Baltimore Schools Hire Test Security Company

Want to comb through data to catch cheaters and ensure "fairness"

The Baltimore school system has hired a leading data forensics company to review thousands of state assessment results dating to 2009 — a third-party analysis that school officials say is needed to inject fairness into investigations of alleged cheating.

But the move has come under fire from the president of the principals union, who says the $275,000 contract with Caveon Test Security is a waste of money for the financially strapped school district and a misguided effort by schools CEO Andrés Alonso to confirm his long-held suspicions about cheating at some schools.