Opinion

Pray for a New York cheating scandal

State education officials say a rash of probes into cheating on school tests around the nation spurred them to look at what New York does to prevent such abuse. But the probes also raise an obvious question: Is some major new scandal about to explode in New York?

If so, it might be grounds to cheer, a sign that reforms aimed at boosting school accountability do indeed have teeth — teeth sharp enough to drive teachers and principals to cheat.

The State Education Department’s cryptic, out-of-the-blue announcement Monday seemed pregnant with possibility: “In mid-July, Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. created a high-level working group . . . to begin an immediate review of all aspects of the state’s testing system,” it said.

King “will be announcing a series of measures to ensure the integrity of our testing system before our students return to school in September.”

What prompted the sudden review? Why the rush to lock in new security measures? And why announce all of this weeks after the “working group” was already formed — and announce it via a mysterious, bare-bones, late-day press release?

Does someone, somewhere, perhaps, know something . . . ?

Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch says the move is merely an attempt to “get out ahead of all this.” She was no doubt thinking of Atlanta, whose widely praised superintendent for years rejected the notion that cheating was going on in her gin joint — until two ex-prosecutors with subpoena power uncovered a scandal involving 178 teachers and principals at 44 schools.

Charges of playing games with tests have also ensnared schools in numerous states, including New Jersey and Connecticut.

So no one should be surprised if New York’s next on the list.

But there’d be a silver lining: Findings of test-tampering here might mean our education officials are finally ready to admit that schools may go to great lengths, even cheating, to keep the public from learning just how lousy a job they’re doing.

Plus, again, evidence of a sharp uptick in such shenanigans would suggest that new accountability measures are getting some response: Teachers and principals who can’t get it together to deliver better results are at least moved to cover up, distort and fudge. They really believe they’ll pay a price if they’re caught failing.

Obviously, any culprits must be found and stopped. The state should race to tighten oversight of testing — including, perhaps, such steps as “erasure analysis.”

Cheating completely undermines measures to hold teachers and schools accountable.

And it surely does kids no favors — they need education, not scores that pretend they’ve gotten one.

But if accountability reforms are driving some school staffers to fraud, they’re probably also spurring honest teachers and principals to improve. So if we can head off any cheating, the reforms really could be tough enough to purge the rotten apples.

Let’s be honest: Cheating on tests is as old as tests themselves. In New York, twisting results — bumping up grades, awarding dubious credit to boost graduation rates — is undeniable.

The State Education Department itself played that cruel game for years, dumbing down tests to make student achievement in New York seem to be soaring. When it finally came clean and recalibrated scores last year, kids failed left and right.

Meanwhile, in just the last few months, Post columnist Michael Goodwin has reported countless cases of schoolhouse data-fudging, and all based on first-hand accounts.

True, an Atlanta-strength scandal in New York would shake faith in the schools yet again. Mayor Bloomberg’s legacy could suffer another body blow: Last year’s test recalibration wiped out much of the gains he’d been bragging about.

But if Bloomberg’s reforms are as tough as he claims, they’d surely lead to cheating. And if none is found, the only reason would be: a cover-up.

So hope for a scandal. Hope the cheaters are caught. And hope any remaining incompetents are left, at last, with but one stark choice: bone up or pack your bags.

Then maybe — just maybe — parents and taxpayers will finally feel confident that New York’s got the best teachers and principals standing at the blackboards, shaping their children’s futures.