Well, this may just be enough to make Charlie Rose cry.

District of Columbia Public Schools officials have long maintained that a 2011 test-cheating scandal that generated two government probes was limited to one elementary school. But a newly uncovered confidential memo warns as far back as January 2009 that educator cheating on 2008 standardized tests could have been widespread, with 191 teachers in 70 schools "implicated in possible testing infractions." The 2009 memo was written by an outside analyst, Fay "Sandy" Sanford, who had been invited by then-chancellor Michelle Rhee to examine students' irregular math and reading score gains. It was sent to Rhee's top deputy for accountability.

If I'm that "top deputy," I'm finding me a lawyer right quick, and I'm staying away from the starboard rail, because the phrase "thrown overboard" suddenly has meaning in my life.

DCPS officials have said they take all cheating allegations seriously, but it's not immediately clear how they responded to Sanford's warnings. Only one educator lost his job because of cheating, according to DCPS. Meanwhile, Rhee fired more than 600 teachers for low test scores - 241 of them in one day in 2010.

Because that's the only acceptable avenue for education "reform." Fire teachers. Fire administrators. Create cults of personality. Buy more erasers. Waiting For Superman, hell. This is Waiting For Eberhard Faber.

Merrow provided a copy of the memo to USA TODAY on Thursday. Its findings stand in stark contrast to public statements made both by Rhee and her onetime deputy, Kaya Henderson, now D.C.'s chancellor. In a Jan. 8 statement coinciding with Merrow's broadcast, Henderson noted, "All of the investigations have concluded in the same way that there is no widespread cheating at D.C. Public Schools." She added, "We take test security incredibly seriously and will continue to do so even after our name has been cleared." Sanford's memo warns its intended recipients to "keep this erasure study really close (sic) hold. No more people in the know than necessary until we have more conclusive results." The memo suggests, "Don't make hard copies and leave them around. Much of what we think we know is based on what I consider to be incomplete information. So the picture is not perfectly clear yet, but the possible ramifications are serious."

And, of course, there is the inevitable Weaselspeak.

"As chancellor I received countless reports, memoranda and presentations. I don't recall receiving a report by Sandy Sanford regarding erasure data from the (DC Comprehensive Assessment System), but I'm pleased, as has been previously reported, that both inspectors general (DOE and DCPS) reviewed the memo and confirmed my belief that there was no widespread cheating."

Yeah, there was this report right here on how much floor polish we needed, and this one right here about the possibility of changing dairies that supply our milk, and there's the annual assessment on crayon-munching and paste-eating, especially among my own personal staff. I am a busy woman. I can't be expected to remember every report, especially one that might indicate that the things upon which I have based my entire career, and which have brought me considerable fame and fortune, are the functional equivalent of swampland in Polk County.

Who do you think I am? Superman?

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io