Education: Catching the Ghosts

Student cheating irks teachers— but what about teachers cheating?

In New York City last week, six professional ghostwriters were arrested on grand jury information that they cheated on behalf of 25 clients at 14 institutions of higher learning. Of the 25 clients, all granted immunity, nine were New York public school teachers. To "earn" higher degrees and raise their status, they hired hacks and thought nothing of it.

On 35 counts, the ghosts were charged with writing or offering to write papers and theses, some for Ph.D. candidates. The fees: $25 to $3,000. It was no small-bore haunting. According to New York District Attorney Frank Hogan, the ghosts served "hundreds" of other clients, who live beyond his jurisdiction.

Sparked by a New York World-Telegram and Sun exposé (TIME, March 7), the grand jury investigation disrobed seasoned ghosts. Among them: Morris Needleman, 52, assistant principal of a Brooklyn elementary school, and Joseph Lasky, 72, who advertised himself as a former instructor at New York University. Slickest of all: debonair Freelance Writer James Butterly, who is charged with taking an exam in adolescent psychology for a dullard student at Columbia's Teachers College. Though Butterly is a grey-haired ghost of 54 and his client was 23, officials suspected nothing.

Such indifference is nothing new. Though the law limits Hogan to prosecuting offenses committed in the past two years, he believes that crooked thesis-writing and exam-taking has flourished for at least two decades. Nor is it limited to New York. "It is fair to conclude," says Hogan, "that the practice is widespread in the country."