The Texas Education Agency has identified an additional 60 teachers that are now under investigation for allegedly cheating on their certification exams.
This brings the total to 160 teachers being investigated for cheating.
Harris County prosecutors have charged five individuals with orchestrating the scheme that enabled people to fraudulently obtain teaching certifications by using a proxy to take their tests.
The people arrested allegedly facilitated proxy test-taking, allowing aspiring teachers to pass the certification exam by having someone else take the test for them. Investigators noticed a pattern of people around the state failing the exam, then retaking the exam in Houston and passing with flying colors.
It has been reported that teachers with fraudulent certifications have since been placed in classrooms all over Texas. Houston-area school districts have hired teachers fraudulently certified through this scheme, including nine at Houston ISD and five in Cy-Fair ISD.
Vincent Grayson, former boys’ basketball coach at Houston ISD’s Booker T. Washington High School, allegedly masterminded the million-dollar cheating scam.
Tywana Gilford Mason, the former director at the Houston Training and Education Center, was accused of facilitating the fraudulent testing process and making $125,000 from her role.
Darian Nikole Wilhite allegedly accepted $250 each time he allowed a proxy test.
Nicholas Newton, the former assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, allegedly served as the proxy test-taker, making $188,000 by taking 430 tests.
LaShonda Roberts, assistant principal at Yates High School in Houston ISD, was charged with helping recruit teachers to the scheme. Charges against her were briefly dropped in error and refiled.
Investigators estimate that the scheme generated over $1 million in illicit profits and the certification of more than 210 people that used a proxy for their tests.
The TEA has notified the respective school districts of the ongoing investigations. The agency has indicated that it will cooperate with law enforcement and follow up on any information it provides.
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