Nutbag Teacher: Cheater, Cheater!

I remember back in school, several kids getting in trouble for stealing an exam from the American history teacher's files, copying it, and selling it to students for a few bucks each. They were, if memory serves, suspended for three days. I'm sure all of my loyal Zensters have similar stories...it's as old as the hills.

This, however, is one variation I'd not yet heard:


Schoolhouse Crock



Rubin Leitner, who is developmentally disabled, sits outside his Brooklyn home, claiming Bronx teacher Wayne Brightly paid him to take a state exam after flunking it repeatedly. In need of his passing grade on the state certification exam, or risk losing his $59k-per-year job, Brightly paid the formerly homeless man (who suffers from Asperger's syndrome) $2 to take the test for him, authorities said.The illegal stand-in - who looks nothing like teacher Wayne Brightly - not only passed the high-stakes test, he scored so much better than the teacher had previously that the state knew something was wrong, officials said.

Along with being much smarter than Brightly, Leitner is 20 years older. He also is white and overweight while Brightly is black and thin. Brightly allegedly helped Leitner obtain a counterfeit state identification card that showed Leitner's photo with Brightly's name. Using the bogus ID, the pair conned city educrats into issuing Leitner a school ID card to use on test day, authorities said.

Brightly has been charged with coercion, falsifying business records and other crimes. He has been taken out of his Baychester classroom pending the outcome of the case.