Sen. Kenneth LaValle: Change law for cheating students

As the state moves toward a crackdown on SAT cheaters, a key lawmaker is calling for overhaul of a 20-year-old statute that provides legal protection for students suspected of misconduct in taking the college entrance exam.

State Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), in an interview Friday, said recent arrests of 20 students, past and present, in an alleged SAT cheating scam underscore the need for stiffer enforcement measures.

"I believe we're doing something that's first of a kind," said LaValle, who heads the state Senate's Higher Education Committee. "We have a new circumstance, so we need to make a change there."

On Tuesday, the committee is scheduled to meet in Albany to discuss the SAT scandal, test security and possible increases in criminal penalties for those found guilty of cheating. New legislation dealing with exam fraud is expected to be drafted within the next several weeks, LaValle said.

He emphasized that he wants to consult committee colleagues before any specific changes in law are proposed. He confirmed, however, that he favors amending a portion of current state education law known as Section 344-B that provides legal due process for those accused of cheating.

For example, that section says that students whose scores are invalidated be given a choice of having test fees refunded, retaking the test privately without additional charge, or seeking legal arbitration.

Those provisions were adopted in 1992 following a case in East Los Angeles in which high school students taught by an acclaimed teacher, the late Jaime Escalante, were asked to retake an AP calculus test because they were suspected of cheating. All 12 who did so passed, and their experience later was dramatized in the movie "Stand and Deliver."

While Section 344-B was meant to protect such students from unfair stigma, LaValle and others have concluded there were unintended consequences. For example, the Nassau County district attorney's office, which is prosecuting the SAT cases, says that test administrators have cited the state's law as the reason they do not notify colleges, high schools and parents of verified cheating cases.

John Byrne, spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice, released a statement Friday that said in part: "Due process is important to protect those falsely accused or suspected of cheating, but colleges, high schools and parents should know when compelling evidence of cheating has been uncovered."

With Ted Phillips