Last week The Washington Post asked public and private school district officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District how they would respond when student leaders cheat on tests. Nearly every official said the student would would receive a zero on the test. But no school has an explicit suspension policy; rather, teachers or principals “might” decide on disciplinary action. Even more disturbing is the fact that none of the 14 districts surveyed has policy on removing students from their leadership positions after an incident of cheating.
Granted, suspending students for first-time cheating violations is unreasonable. Failing students is a valid response. As one Reston, Va. principal stated, “Just because a student has [cheated] doesn’t make him public enemy number one. The key is that he learns from his mistake.”
What is upsetting about these school district policies, however, is their preferential treatment of student leaders. High schools nationwide have star athletes, student government leaders, club presidents and honor roll students that are revered in the community. It would be unreasonable to assume that none of these student leaders has ever cheated. But should these exceptional students face less severe punishment just because of they are on the “right” college pace or have a stellar academic record?
Local rules and handbooks concerning student conduct, from Fairfax to Frederick, offer no explicit punishment for high school cheaters. The issue of reprimand is usually left to whims of school officials.
This policy wrongly favors student leaders and discriminates students of lower academic and extracurricular standing. Giving academic breaks to student leaders simply because they occupy important positions in the school community, while suspending other students for similar offenses, is simply unfair.
All students should be punished for cheating. More importantly, all students should be punished equally. After all, these top notch students are the ones applying to top-tier school such as Georgetown. Do we want cheaters who have slid through the school’s patronage system? Local schools need to make more explicit cheating rules that treat all student wrong-doing equally.
