But it couldn't happen here, could it?

Chicago Tribune | Cheaters: A disturbing pattern in education. Is it happening here?
We know some educators here have cheated.
In 2002, then-Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan asked University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt (later of "Freakonomics" fame) to study possible cheating on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, then given to CPS elementary students.
Levitt and coauthor Brian Jacob targeted 117 Chicago elementary classrooms, some of which were suspected of cheating because they had reported huge and unexpected student gains. Those classrooms were retested under tighter controls. Result: The huge scoring gains disappeared in 29 classrooms. CPS investigated. Several teachers and principals were fired or reprimanded.

That's how they get away with it. It's so damned brazen that a sensible observer can't believe they would try.