The sum is small compared with some of San Diego's big-time crooks, but the fact that he was a school superintendent makes his crimes deplorable. Best, don bauder

How many rogues ever pay the restitution they are ordered to pay? Best, Don Bauder

Unfortunately, white collar crime pays. Have you noticed that it appears there may be no criminal prosecutions in the MF Global case? Best, Don Bauder

Have you noticed that it appears there may be no criminal prosecutions in the MF Global case?

Yes, I have noticed that-more proof we are a banana republic. But hey, it is not that hard to misplace $1.6 billion, in fact I myself do it at least once a week.

Aha! At last, the truth comes out! SurfPup is a billionaire many times over. You have always had a certain panache, a certain swagger, suggesting that you ride around in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce limo. Best, Don Bauder

I didn't include all his activities in this summary. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, Klentschy admitted that data he presented to the National Science Foundation supposedly validating his school science teaching methods were inaccurate and unreliable. He presented purported results of student testing for 2004-2005 in Imperial County to prove the efficacy of his teaching methods. But three-fourths of the test scores were falsified, said the U.S. Attorney. Best, Don Bauder

Right. To me, this is the worst part. It's scientific fraud, and it's what makes Klentschy more than a simple thief. Klentschy was famous for his innovative teaching methods, and many grants have since been given to researchers who are trying to reproduce and build on his results. But he was selling snake oil.

Thanks for covering the story. It deserves much broader attention.

You may well be right: I should have covered the scientific fraud in the first brief. Yes, I think this whole Klentschy story does deserve more attention. We tend to think that the major crooks in education are officers of for-profit colleges and coaches and recruiters in college (and high school) sports. We should dig deeper. Best, Don Bauder

. . . a tiny snowflake on the tip of an iceberg.

Probably true, Twister. Best, Don Bauder

I think the story is largely slipping under the radar because people tend to ignore El Centro as a sleepy little desert town. But Klentschy's "research" has been highly influential across the nation. He came into El Centro as a hotshot out of UCLA, and we're talking about big NSF grants here. There are many, many teachers and researchers trying to duplicate his approach to science education. It's not necessarily a bad way of teaching science, but too many people are unaware of how he's doctored his results. Google his name and check out all the glowing reviews of his books, his keynote speeches at Los Alamos National Lab, the Smithsonian Institution, etc.

Thanks again for being one of the few journalists covering the story -- and for your responses here in the comments. I think you'd find deeper digging into the story to be rewarding.

If Klentschy's methods for teaching science have been so revered, the topic certainly deserves more consideration. How many Klentschy-like phonies are out there? Best, Don Bauder

Good question, but I think the problem is not so much that there are a bunch of phonies as that there are thousands of honest teachers hoping for a magic educational pill, implementing Klentschy-style science notebooks in their classrooms, and expecting that their students' test scores will skyrocket. Then, if those scores don't rise as high as Klentschy's bogus results suggest they should, teachers and their administrators start to wonder what they're doing wrong and they move on to the next fad or simply give up. As I commented earlier, Klentschy's approach isn't all bad. Anything that increases student time spent on authentic scientific inquiry and on writing is bound to have beneficial results. But too many teachers, administrators, and researchers are sticking faithfully to Klentschy's script with unrealistic expectations and without realizing what a huckster he's been.

It seems to me that much of the problem revolves around the excessive emphasis on test scores. Administrators and teachers are obsessed with these scores, but almost have to be because of the importance that higher-ups put on them. Most teachers I know would prefer to teach, not prepare students for tests. Best, Don Bauder