Theodore Boone: The Scandal

Chapter 12

Two days later, Theo bounded down the stairs with Judge at his heels and found his mother in the kitchen. She was decked out in a lovely maroon dress with matching heels, and Theo knew immediately that she was headed to court. She saved her finest attire for court and often complained that the female lawyers were expected to look sharp there while the men often looked like slobs. Theo didn’t see it that way. He spent a lot of time in courtrooms and was of the opinion that all lawyers dressed up a bit when they were appearing before judges and juries.

“I have to be in court at nine, Theo,” she said. “All day, and I’ll probably be late for dinner.”

“Sure, Mom. What’s up?”

“A divorce trial. You might want to take a look at the morning paper.” Theo was pouring Cheerios into two bowls, in equal amounts. Judge often examined his bowl before he attacked it, just to make sure he received the same amount as Theo.

She pecked him on the cheek and said, “I’m off. Do you have lunch money?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And your homework is done.”

“All done, Mom.”

“Have a great day, Teddy, and remember to keep smiling.”

“You got it.”

“Don’t forget to lock up.”

“Sure, Mom.”

After she closed the door, Theo sat down for breakfast. He slid the newspaper over and looked at the front page. The headline read: “Questions Arise Over Testing.” He forgot about his cereal and began reading. Citing an anonymous source, the reporter wrote that city school officials were looking into rumors that some of the test scores from the East Middle School eighth grade may have been tampered with. The reporter repeated what was already known, that the eighth-grade students there had shown a remarkable improvement from the year before, so much so that some suspicions had been aroused. What was even more suspicious was the fact that the folks who ran the schools were not talking. There was another photo of Dr. Carmen Stoop, and the reporter wrote that his efforts to speak with the superintendent had been denied. The school board attorney, Mr. Robert McNile, did not return his phone calls. The reporter tried to talk to several people but no one was willing. His unnamed source was saying that Dr. Stoop and Mr. McNile had received an anonymous tip that came in the form of an unsigned letter, and that this letter was stirring up questions about the scores being “altered.”

The story had an aggressive tone to it and left no doubt that the journalist was not going away.

“Wow,” Theo mumbled to himself as his appetite vanished. He read the story again and managed to choke down a couple of bites, then he hurriedly rinsed both bowls, forgot to brush his teeth, and said good-bye to Judge. The dog was not happy because he was being left at home. Usually, he rode to the office with Mrs. Boone, but occasionally he was forced to spend the day alone. This upset him. Theo spoke to him and promised to pick him up after school.

After second period, Theo sneaked into the library, opened his laptop, and checked the local news. There was an update. At nine that morning, Dr. Stoop had issued a statement in which she said the school board had hired “independent investigators” to look into the “rumors” regarding cheating at East Middle School.

The investigation was moving faster than the news about it. Dr. Stoop and her staff had, in fact, been suspicious not long after they had first seen the test scores. The improvements at East were almost too good to be true. However, they had accepted the scores, even said nice things about them, and really hoped there was nothing sinister behind them. Perhaps the scores were accurate and life would peacefully go on.

But the anonymous letter had floored them. The fact that whoever wrote it had been bold enough to name names — Mr. London and Ms. Kovak — forced Dr. Stoop to start asking questions. The attorney, Mr. McNile, advised her to immediately hire investigators from outside the school system and get to the bottom of it. Then somebody — they would never know who — leaked the story to the newspaper reporter, and the scandal was in the process of blowing up.

The investigators spent hours reviewing the tests. Their conclusion was obvious and simple: Yes, there were far more erasures on the eighth-grade tests than would appear to be normal. For example, in a typical two-hour exam on history, with fifty questions, the average test-taker would make five changes. He or she would erase the bubble for either A, B, C, D, or E, and fill in another bubble for the second, and correct choice, with a standard lead pencil. But for some of the eighth-grade exams at East, there were up to fifteen erasures. Late Thursday afternoon, the investigators met with Dr. Stoop and her staff and delivered the bad news. She told them to press on with all due speed. The reporter was calling and things could get out of control.

On Friday, as Theo was hiding in the library and scanning the Internet for news, the principal at East asked Ms. Emily Kovak to please step into his office. Waiting for her were the two investigators. They were pleasant and courteous and said they just had a few routine questions. She was immediately terrified.

The first investigator asked, “Did you return to the school on the Saturday after the testing was finished?”

“Well, I’m not sure if I remember.”

“It was only three weeks ago. Do you often come to the school on Saturdays?”

“Occasionally.” She shot a frightened look at the principal, who was glaring at her as if she’d been caught stealing some kid’s lunch money.

“Then try real hard to remember if you came here on that Saturday.”

“I seem to recall that I did. Yes, the day after the tests were over.”

“And what was the purpose of your return?”

“I needed to pick up some homework to grade.”

“I see. But the students had no homework that week, right? There’s no homework during the standardized tests, am I correct?”

He looked at the principal who said, “That’s correct.”

Ms. Novak’s shoulders sagged a bit, and she looked confused. She said, “It was some old homework that I had forgotten to grade. Where is this going?”

“Were there other teachers here that Saturday?”

“I don’t recall seeing anyone,” she said nervously.

“Was Mr. London here?”

She looked away, trying to appear as if she couldn’t remember.

“Did you meet Mr. London and some other teachers here that Saturday?”

She couldn’t recall. As the interview went on, she was able to remember less and less. The investigator never mentioned the possibility of changing test scores; that would come later. After half an hour, the principal asked her to stay in the room with him for a few minutes. The two investigators left and walked into the office next door where Mr. London was waiting nervously. The same questions were asked, the same denials offered. He, too, had a bad memory. But he was also rattled and did a lot of stuttering.

It was obvious to the investigators that the teachers, if they had in fact worked together and changed test scores, had formed a tight circle, and no one was willing to talk. But a school is a school, and word spread rapidly. By lunchtime, there were little groups of teachers in every hallway, whispering fearfully as the rumors roared through East Middle School.

Meanwhile, during lunch Theo found April in the cafeteria and sat next to her. They couldn’t talk because other kids were close by, so they went for a walk on the playground. She had checked online and knew of the investigation. “I guess you’re getting what you wanted,” Theo said.

“Looks like it.”

“You seem worried.”

“Did I do the right thing, Theo? Please tell me I did.”

“I don’t know. If the investigation reveals a cheating scandal and the bad guys get punished, then you can say you did the right thing. If there’s no scandal, then nothing bad happens to anyone, and your letter was harmless.”

“So what’s bothering you?”

“I don’t know. It’s just that I’m uneasy about why you did it. In some way it seems selfish. You felt cheated because you didn’t make Honors, so you kind of stirred things up almost in revenge.”

“I’m not selfish, Theo. That hurts my feelings.”

“I’m sorry, but you asked.”

“And it wasn’t revenge. That sounds strange coming from you, a person who claims to always believe in justice. Let’s say those teachers did what they did, and they’re wrong, and because of their wrongdoing some students — yes, me and you and others — are being treated unfairly. Don’t you think they should be exposed and punished?”

“Yes. And I’m not saying you are wrong, April. I’m just not sure what I think right now.”

“I need you to be my friend, Theo.”

“I’m always your friend. And besides, no one will ever know what you did, right?”

“Right.”