BY JAMES NASH
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

If a group of Cincinnati teachers prevails in a case now before the Ohio Supreme Court, enterprising students might be able to ace their tests simply by using the state's public-records law to get a copy of the test before it's given.

The science teacher who brought the case, Paul Perrea, says the semester exams, which account for 25 percent of a student's grade, might have been poorly designed and might not reflect a student's actual learning. Without getting a copy of the test, however, it's impossible to be sure, Perrea says.

But the school district says that if standardized tests are declared public records, it would be open season for students and their parents to invoke the state's open-records laws to get their hands on tests they have not taken yet.