One teacher and his students know they can win the state's academic contest with the right amount of study, the right application, and the right answers. When one of them steals the test papers, will they cheat their way to the trophy?

Chicago's Steinmetz High School doesn't have a hope of winning the state's academic contest. Their rival - Whitney Young - is a winning school that hand-picked its way to the top. But one teacher and his students know they can succeed with the right amount of study, the right application, and the right answers. When one of them steals the test papers, the biggest question becomes: should they cheat their way to the trophy? Winning will make or break the rest of their lives, and for the first time they have all the right answers - except one.

In the fall of 1994, a teacher at Chicago's run-down Steinmetz High recruits seven students for an academic decathlon team. They work long hours, preparing for the February regional event, won for ten straight years by a privileged, preppy school. Steinmetz finishes just well enough to be invited to the state meet. When a team member steals a copy of the state test, the teacher and kids face a dilemma: to remain honest, or to cheat and score a victory for kids in underfunded schools. When they do well, they must face a withering barrage of investigations, accusations, lawyers' lies, and reporters' intrusions. Is it all worth it? What lessons does cheating teach?—<[email protected]>