Cheating on tests has long been a problem in education. In the past, the issue was limited to students attempting to get higher grades. In recent months, however, news stories have exposed a new wrinkle in cheating scandals: Teachers and administrators changing test answer sheets to justify performance bonuses and to meet federal mandates to improve education levels.
From Philadelphia to Atlanta to California, school staffers have been caught changing student answer sheets to yield higher test scores, so that the school system would show better performance, thus justifying federal aid as well as bonus payments to the educators in charge.
The short run benefit is easy to identify: More money for the schools and for the administrators. But in the long run, grade inflation erodes economic performance as surely as monetary inflation erodes purchasing power. Teachers forging answer sheets and granting high grades to students who don't deserve them is like the Federal Reserve pumping up the money supply. The end result is higher wages and prices, but with no guarantee of better quality. Graduates with high grades may get more pay, but their ignorance soon shows. (For some not-so-funny examples keep in mind some of the comments by current presidential candidates.)
As for monetary inflation, as any tourist knows, prices rise to absorb the amount of money available.
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