The principal of Cayuga Elementary School in Hunting Park and four teachers were charged by the state's attorney general with cheating on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) from 2007 to 2012. All of the educators were charged with felony offenses, including perjury, corruption and tampering with public records. 

An investigative grand jury recommended charges against five educators. Evidence and testimony during the investigation reportedly showed that under Principal Evelyn Cortez's direction, teachers asked students to record answers on scrap paper instead of the test booklets so that answers could then be checked. Cortez allegedly meandered through classrooms during tests, looking over students' shoulders and telling them when to change answers. According to the investigation, the practice was even announced through Cayuga's classroom speakers and teachers who did not participate in cheating were publicly reprimanded.

When the practice ceased in 2012, the number of advanced or proficient PSSA scores decreased sharply throughout the school. The score results for third grade math and reading hovered above 40 percent and often over 50 percent from 2005 to 2011 before dropping dramatically to below 30 percent in 2012. In the 2008-2009 school year, fourth-grade scores reached nearly 90 percent, well above the district's average. 

For the most part, cheating on PSSA's put the school barely above the district's average for five years. Current scores are below average for the district. 

Cayuga's 446 kindergarten v are primarily Latino (61 percent) and African American (30 percent). Nearly one in five students are English Language Learners and nearly every student is economically disadvantaged (95 percent). 

"Cheating robs children of a good education," Attorney General Kathleen Kane said regarding the case. "The alleged misconduct by these educators is an affront to the public's trust and will not be tolerated."