Level Playing Field

As told by a Dell Inspiron 15, Serial Number: 7KMPR53

I am five years old.

My owner purchased me refurbished for $340. She needed something reliable for lesson planning.

I have 256GB of storage. 8GB of RAM. A battery that holds charge for 3.2 hours.

I have witnessed 1,847 hours of work.

August 22, 2021 - 11:47 PM

My owner opens: Marcus_IEP_2021.docx

She types for two hours. 4,721 words. Accommodations. Modifications. Present levels of performance.

At 1:53 AM, she opens her banking app.

Checking account balance: $247.18

She searches: "college textbook rental sites"

She closes the browser without purchasing anything.

April 15, 2022 - 10:33 PM

She opens the district budget report. 247 pages.

She scrolls to page 89: Special Education Staffing.

She creates a new Excel file: Budget_Analysis.xlsx

Cell A1: District savings per year Cell B1: $427,000

Cell A2: Years employed Cell B2: 12

Cell A3: Total savings Cell B3: =B1*B2 Result: $5,124,000

She stares at this number for eleven minutes.

Then she searches: "state testing portal login procedures"

April 18, 2022 - 9:15 PM

New file: Testing_Manual_Notes.docx

She uses my Find function 43 times.

Search terms:

"session initiation"

"parallel sessions"

"audit triggers"

"security protocols"

She highlights: "Sessions may be paused and resumed within the testing window without triggering security alerts."

She does not search for VPNs.

She does not search for how to hide.

She believes the system will not notice.

October 12, 2022 - 7:23 AM

She logs into the state testing portal.

Student ID accessed: 47829-Thompson-Marcus

Session initiated: Reading Comprehension Assessment

I record 47 questions in 31 minutes. B, C, A, D, B, A, A, C...

Session completed: 7:54 AM

Student ID: 47829-Thompson-Marcus

Session initiated: Mathematics Assessment

44 questions. 28 minutes.

Session completed: 8:22 AM

She opens her email.

Subject: Congratulations - SASS Award Recipient

She searches: "textbook rental Boston University biology"

Purchase completed: $287.43

November 8, 2022 - 8:45 PM

New file: Tutoring_Clients.xlsx

Column headers: Student Name | Parent Name | Rate | Total Paid | Status

Row 2: Chloe Martin | Jennifer Martin | $200/hr | $0 | Active

She downloads a tutoring contract template.

Edits it to read: "Services include individualized test preparation strategies and academic support."

She does not write: "I will take your child's test for them."

March 14, 2023 - 8:15 AM

Student ID accessed: 52847-Martin-Chloe

Session initiated: Reading Comprehension Assessment

39 minutes.

Session initiated: Mathematics Assessment

35 minutes.

She opens Tutoring_Clients.xlsx

Updates Row 2: Total Paid: $2,400

Banking app shows new deposit: $2,400 via Venmo

Note: "Thank you for everything!"

She does not know that I remember everything.

Every keystroke.

Every login.

Every lie.

May 30, 2023 - 11:15 PM

She opens Tutoring_Clients.xlsx

I count: 24 rows

I calculate: $31,400

She types in a new cell: "I'm still owed $395,600 for just this year"

She deletes it.

October 15, 2024 - 11:47 PM

Her calendar shows: Teacher Excellence Awards Ceremony - October 18, 4:00 PM

Note: "Third consecutive SASS award!! $3,000"

Tutoring_Clients.xlsx now shows: 87 rows

Total: $141,340

She types: "Still owed by district (3 years): $1,281,000"

She sits very still for fourteen minutes.

Then searches: "navy blue dress professional amazon"

Purchase: $89.95

October 17, 2024 - 9:23 PM

Row 87: Brandon Wallace | Mr. & Mrs. Wallace (attorneys) | $2,800 | Test scheduled 10/18

She checks her calendar.

October 18 - Math Benchmark Testing Window

October 18 - Awards Ceremony, 4:00 PM

She does not search: "student absence protocols"

She does not know Brandon Wallace has the flu.

She does not know he has been absent all week.

October 18, 2024 - 7:00 AM

She powers me on.

Coffee steaming beside me.

She's wearing yoga pants. The navy blue dress hangs in her closet in the garment bag.

She logs into the state testing portal.

Student ID accessed: 61847-Wallace-Brandon

Session initiated: Mathematics Benchmark Assessment

I record timestamp: 7:00:14 AM

I record IP address: 192.168.1.1

I record geolocation: 127 Maple Street, Riverside, IL

Brandon Wallace lives at 843 Oak Avenue.

Brandon Wallace is not here.

She completes 44 questions.

Average time: 58 seconds per question.

23% faster than Brandon's previous completion time.

Session completed: 7:43 AM

Final score: 81%

She closes the portal at 7:52 AM.

Searches: "hair updo tutorial youtube"

She does not know that at 7:43:17 AM, an alert was generated.

Alert type: Student absence conflict

Alert details: Session completed for student marked absent in district attendance system

Alert sent to: State Testing Integrity Division

Timestamp: 7:43:19 AM

She closes me at 8:05 AM.

In 1 hour and 10 minutes, her phone will ring.

October 18, 2024 - 9:47 AM

I am powered down abruptly.

Battery at 73%.

Someone closed my lid while I was running.

Voices through sleep mode:

"We need to take this with us."

"Personal. But it's evidence now."

I am moved.

October 18, 2024 - 2:15 PM

New location.

Network: RSD_District_Office_Secure

New hands. Professional. They know where to look.

Files accessed:

Tutoring_Clients.xlsx

Tax_Documents_2023

Testing_Manual_Notes.docx

Browser history reveals:

"state testing portal login procedures" (April 18, 2022)

"college textbook rental" (October 12, 2022)

"tutoring rates Illinois" (November 8, 2022)

"navy blue dress professional" (October 15, 2024)

All data copied to external drive: 2:43 PM

October 18, 2024 - 4:17 PM

Voices through my closed lid:

"The ceremony started seventeen minutes ago."

"Should we wait until after?"

"No. Do it now."

Phone call: 4:18 PM

"Mrs. Lavender, your employment is terminated effective immediately."

Silence.

"The ceremony. I'm supposed to receive the SASS award at four o'clock."

"There is no ceremony for you."

October 18, 2024 - 6:30 PM

My owner's hands. Shaking.

The navy blue dress on the couch. Still in the garment bag. Tags attached.

She opens her email.

Subject: Employment Termination Notice

She opens Tutoring_Clients.xlsx

87 rows. $141,340.

She searches: "what happens when teacher is caught cheating on student tests"

Results:

"El Paso superintendent sentenced to federal prison"

"Atlanta teachers convicted under RICO charges"

"Texas teacher certification fraud - $1 million scheme"

She opens her photos.

File: Marcus_reading_progress.jpg

A boy holding a chapter book. Smiling. Finger tracking the words.

She stares for nineteen minutes.

She closes me.

She does not turn me back on for six days.

October 24, 2024 - 3:15 PM

Not my owner.

Official seal: Illinois State Board of Education - Testing Integrity Division

Software installed: EnCase Forensic v22.1

Every file I have ever contained is copied.

Every deleted file is recovered.

Including:

Deleted_Draft_Email_03_12_2023.eml

To: superintendent@district.edu Subject: Special Education Staffing Request Body: "For twelve years, I have been doing the work of seven people. I am requesting adequate staff according to state guidelines. This is unsustainable and unfair."

Status: Never sent. Deleted March 12, 2023.

Deleted 7 hours after she received her first tutoring payment.

November 29, 2024 - 10:15 AM

Location: Office of Assistant State Attorney

"Mrs. Lavender, we've completed forensic analysis. The evidence is extensive."

He turns me toward her.

Tutoring_Clients.xlsx: 87 rows. $141,340.

"We recovered deleted files. Including your email to the superintendent requesting staff. You deleted it the same day you received your first fraudulent payment."

"We found your budget analysis. Five million dollars in savings from understaffing."

He opens a new file.

"When we re-tested your students:"

Marcus Thompson: 22% proficiency (reported 82%) Destiny Williams: 18% proficiency (reported 76%) Jamal Anderson: 15% proficiency (reported 69%)

My owner makes a sound. Not words.

"87 counts of fraud. 87 counts of tampering. 12 counts of tax evasion. $3.2 million in damages."

"We're offering a plea: Forfeit all income. $87,500 restitution. Surrender your license. Eighteen months in federal prison."

"What about the parents?"

"They're claiming they were victims. That they thought they were paying for tutoring."

"But they knew."

"Perhaps. But you took a test for a student who wasn't even in the building because you didn't check if Brandon Wallace was absent."

December 15, 2024 - 9:00 PM

My owner's hands.

New document: Final_Accounting.docx

"What the district owed me: $5,124,000 What I recovered: $150,340 Percentage: 2.9%

What it cost:

License

Career

Freedom

Son's respect

Students' futures

Integrity

What I destroyed:

Marcus's truth

Destiny's truth

Jamal's truth

87 students' ability to know who they are

What I became:

The system I hated"

She stares for twenty-three minutes.

Deletes it.

Creates: Letter_to_Marcus.docx

"Dear Marcus,

You learned to read. Really learned. That was real.

But I took your test. Your 82% proficiency was a lie. Your real score is 22%.

I'm the reason you'll never know if you could have gotten to 82% on your own.

I erased you to prove a point to people who will never care.

I'm sorry."

She stares for eleven minutes.

Deletes it.

She will never send it.

Marcus will never know.

January 10, 2025 - 2:45 PM

Automated email received.

My owner is in prison. She cannot read it.

Outstanding Benefits Payment

Employee: Lavender, M. Unused Personal Days: 47 Rate: $82.04/day

Total: $3,856.88

Almost exactly one SASS bonus.

The money she committed fraud to earn.

The system had owed it to her all along.

She had just never filled out the right form.

EVIDENCE LOG

Item #: 2024-ES-7829

Description: Dell Inspiron 15, Serial #7KMPR53

Contents:

87 fraudulent sessions (IP 192.168.1.1, defendant's home)

$141,340 undeclared income

Deleted email requesting staff (never sent)

Budget analysis: $5,124,000 in district savings

Critical Error:

Defendant did not verify student attendance. Brandon Wallace absent five days due to illness. System automatically cross-references sessions with attendance. Alert generated immediately.

Had defendant checked attendance, fraud would have continued undetected.

Conclusion:

Defendant caught due to procedural carelessness, not investigative sophistication.

I am five years old.

I have 256GB of storage.

I have witnessed everything.

I know what my owner knows:

She did the work of seven people for the salary of one.

She saved the district $5,124,000 over twelve years.

She committed fraud to recover $150,340.

Less than 3%.

I know what my owner doesn't know:

If she had filed for unused personal days every year for twelve years, she would have received $46,282.56.

Almost exactly what she made in "tutoring" in one year.

The money was always there.

She just didn't know how to ask for it.

I know what no one knows:

The new special education teacher started November 1, 2024.

Ms. Rodriguez. Age 26. First teaching position.

On November 15, 2024, she accessed the district budget report.

On November 16, 2024, she searched: "recommended special education staffing ratios Illinois"

On November 18, 2024, she drafted an email.

Subject: Special Education Staffing Request

She has not sent it.

But she has not deleted it.

She opens it every few days.

Reads it.

Closes it.

Last accessed: January 9, 2025.

I am evidence.

I am history.

I am truth.

I am a Dell Inspiron 15, Serial Number 7KMPR53.

And I know the story is not over.

It is only beginning again.