Over 100 teachers are being investigated by the Texas Education Agency for alleged involvement in a cheating ring based in Houston that, according to prosecutors, helped hundreds of people earn phony teaching credentials over a number of years.
According to a list the TEA sent to the Houston Landing Wednesday morning, 15 of the 102 teachers under investigation have previously worked at Houston ISD. Of the fifteen identities, thirteen correspond to workers who were listed in the district’s payroll records from October.It’s unclear right now if any of the 13 employees have received disciplinary action or been put on paid leave.
A request for response from HISD was not immediately answered.
Two to four educators were mentioned as being under evaluation in the Houston area’s Cy-Fair, Fort Bend, Spring, and Katy ISDs. In the past few years, eight of the educators under investigation worked at Duncanville ISD and nine at Dallas ISD.
Teachers may have their Texas educator licenses revoked as a result of the investigations, which are distinct from the criminal prosecutions of five individuals connected to the cheating ring.
The information follows the Harris County District Attorney’s Office’s announcement in late October that it had prosecuted five individuals, including three HISD officials, in relation to a multi-year plan to assist teachers around the state in obtaining teaching credentials through fraudulent means.
In the upcoming weeks and months, the TEA expects additional teachers to be reviewed.
In an email, TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky stated that the agency “fully expects additional investigations to be opened as the agency receives more information.”
Prosecutors claimed in October that Vincent Grayson, the longstanding boys basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School, was the mastermind and organizer of the cheating ring, with Yates High School employee LaShonda Roberts and Washington High Assistant Principal Nicholas Newton serving as co-conspirators. According to the prosecution, Roberts is an assistant principal at Yates High, but as of early October, district payroll records indicated that she was employed there as a special education chair.
Prosecutors claimed that the false licenses probably helped school staff retain their teaching positions, gain promotions, and earn greater compensation. The operation brought in $1 million for its organizers.
According to authorities, Grayson oversaw the scheme, Roberts recruited and referred roughly 90 teachers, and teachers who took part in the cheating ring usually paid about $2,500 to have Newton take the test in their names. Prosecutors claimed that Newton eventually confessed after being caught red-handed taking tests for two teachers simultaneously. Prosecutors said in court documents that about 20 of the teachers implicated in the affair also confessed.
HISD Communications Chief Alexandra Elizondo announced in late October that Roberts, Newton, and Grayson had all been placed on paid leave. She stated at the time that the district would identify any teachers implicated in the cheating incident and terminate their contracts in collaboration with the TEA and law enforcement.
Elizondo stated in October that the behavior in question is totally intolerable and goes against all of HISD’s ideals, including our views on teacher certification.
The Landing’s Houston ISD is covered by Asher Lehrer-Small. You can contact him directly [email protected] or follow him on Instagram at @by_ash_lson and @small_asheron X.
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