By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio officials are trying to measure the effectiveness of public schools, so shortcomings can be addressed and students will be better served in the future.

A big part of that process is the release of annual performance grades for every school in the state.

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But the release of the grades is being delayed this year, due to a state investigation of possible widespread cheating on student attendance data.

The State Board of Education voted Monday to postpone the release of 2011-12 school report cards “until questions are answered about the accuracy of attendance data reported by local school districts,” according to a news release from the Ohio Coalition for Quality Education.

School officials in Columbus, Langland and Toledo have been accused of “scrubbing” student attendance records in various ways to convince the state their districts are meeting standards, even if they’re not.

State Auditor Dave Yost is investigating the allegations in those three districts, and recently announced that he’s expanding his probe to schools across the state, because he suspects that officials in many other districts may guilty of the same type of false reporting.

If the Board of Education had gone ahead and released local school grades based on questionable information, it’s likely that many undeserving schools might have received passing marks. That would be misleading for parents who are counting on the state to carefully and accurately measure how well their schools are serving students.

“The report cards are intended to give an accurate picture of how well schools are doing and they shouldn’t be released with a cloud hanging over their reliability,” acting State Superintendent Michael Sawyers was quoted as saying. “Auditor Yost is expected to release his findings later in the fall and until those findings are out and any problems corrected, it would be irresponsible to issue report cards.”

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As we’ve stated before, providing false information to the state about local school performance should be an unforgivable sin, and officials found to be guilty should be thrown out of the education profession for good.

Parents and taxpayers deserve an unvarnished view of how well their schools are performing, based on accurate information. Those who violate that sacred public trust have no business on the public payroll.