The Texas Education Agency is looking into 60 more teachers from 33 school districts who allegedly received bogus credentials through a cheating ring led by a prominent Houston ISD basketball coach.
Five persons, including three HISD instructors, are facing criminal charges for allegedly running a $1 million cheating ring involving over 200 teachers in Dallas, Houston, and dozens of other school systems. According to Harris County District Attorney officials, certification candidates exchanged with a test-taking proxy after signing in at testing sites.
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HISD’s Vincent Grayson, Booker T. Washington High School basketball coach; LaShonda Roberts, Jack Yates High School assistant principal; and Nicholas Newton, Booker T. Washington assistant principal, were accused of running the ring.
According to state records, the Texas Education Agency launched charges on Tuesday for nine teachers who were most recently affiliated with Houston ISD. Teachers recently linked with Aldine, Alief, Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, and Spring ISDs had their certificates marked for further review.
In December, around 100 educators’ credentials were marked as pending investigations, for a total of 163 cases across 59 school districts. The districts mentioned represent each educator’s most recent places of employment as of the end of either the 2022-23 or 2023-24 school years.
“In accordance with State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) rules, the TEA will analyze all information provided by law enforcement and take appropriate action against any educator implicated in this fraud. The SBEC will make a final decision on potential sanctions,” the state agency stated on October 29.
personnel: What to know about the HISD personnel allegedly at the core of a statewide teaching certification cheating scandal?
Additional investigations may be launched when the agency gathers more information.
Houston ISD stated in December, “HISD has a rigorous approach to recruiting, hiring, training, and supporting educators so that all of our students receive the education they deserve.” It is unfortunate that a small number of HISD’s more than ten thousand dedicated instructors reportedly attempted to defraud the system and Houston’s children. All of the individuals have been stripped of their duties and reassigned awaiting the results of the state’s inquiry.”
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