Monday, May. 14, 2001
Raw Data
By Kathleen Adams, Melissa August, Ellin Martens, Benjamin Nugent, Alex Smith, Sora Song, Heather Tesoriero and Josh Tyrangiel
BRAIN TEASER What sordid scandal that took place in Seattle became part of a test question for high school students across Washington? The question on a new standardized test did not concern state history but rather logic. Students were challenged to map the correct route between fictitious towns. Clever 10th-graders who marked the right answer (C) traveled from Mayri, went through Clay and Lee and ended up in Turno. Eureka! Mary K. Letourneau, the elementary school teacher who seduced her 13-year-old former student and later had two children by him, one while she was serving time for her misdeeds. Washington's state superintendent of public education called the prank sophomoric and has begun an investigation. Unfortunately for those who answered correctly, the question will no longer be counted in the final score.