09:42 AM CST on Friday, December 31, 2004

For the sake of Houston's children and the thousands of dedicated, professional educators who serve them every day, the integrity of the Houston Independent School District must remain absolutely beyond question.

We have reviewed the anomalies in the test scores of the Acres Home schools as pointed out by the Dallas Morning News, and we agree that these anomalies identify performance that is highly questionable.

HISD already has started a thorough review of scale scores for TAKS 2003 and 2004 for all schools at all grade levels in the district. Any highly suspect performance identified from this review will be thoroughly investigated. While I have a high level of confidence in the work of our teachers and the performance of our students, it is important for the integrity and cohesiveness of the district that the district thoroughly review unusual test scores.

Due to the lack of progress of the Wesley investigation, a month ago HISD appointed an independent counsel to conduct a full and thorough investigation.

If these investigations determine that cheating occurred anywhere in the district, the personnel responsible will be reported to the State Board of Educator Certification, and HISD will take severe disciplinary action against these individuals.