From The El Paso Times: A high school administrator in the El Paso (Texas) district admits that he helped remove students that might have kept his campus from meeting federal accountability standards. Johnnie Vega, an assistant principal at Bowie High School, says he and others feared for their jobs and followed district and campus directives to prevent some students from enrolling, kick others out and award credits to yet other students who should have failed courses for not showing up. Vega admits participating in a scheme led by former Superintendent Lorenzo García to artificially inflate student test scores and make it appear as if campuses were meeting state and federal accountability standards. García has pleaded guilty to two charges of mail fraud as part of a scheme to artificially inflate student test scores. He will be sentenced in October.
JUNE 2012...from The El Paso Times: Former El Paso (Texas) Independent School District Superintendent Lorenzo García has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. One of the charges involves cheating on student test scores and the other deals with a $450,000 contract given to one of his lovers. García pleaded guilty to defrauding the Texas Education Agency and the U.S. Department of Education by inflating state and federal accountability scores at different schools to secure federal No Child Left Behind funding and so that he could earn a performance bonus. UPDATE:From The El Paso Times: El Paso (Texas) Independent School District interim Superintendent Terri Jordan has refused to answer questions about the six unnamed people who federal officials say conspired with former Superintendent Lorenzo García to cheat on student scores. García has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Six unnamed people, who have not been indicted, conspired with García to alter student scores, according to a court document. Jordan dodged reporters' questions and says the district is working with federal investigators in their ongoing probes.
