Shocked, I'll tell you. Not really.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/tex...her-cheating-scandal

The Houston based cheating ring allegedly led to illegally certified teachers working in schools Texas wide

By Christina Shaw | Fox News
Published October 29, 2024 3:56am EDT

A teacher certification scandal is rocking the Houston area, according to a statement by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Monday.

The scheme involved hundreds of teachers taking false examinations, given out by the suspects who charged per certificate, with many being falsely certified.

The cheating ring unmasked at least five people allegedly involved in the million-dollar cheating scandal leading to fraudulently certified teachers working in the district. At least three of those charged were Houston Independent School District (HISD) employees, including two assistant principals and a high school basketball coach.

Officials believe the basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School was the ringleader and that he made about $1 million from the scheme, charging $2,500 per certificate, although some paid more.

Ogg said the scheme goes back as far as May 2020, and it is believed that hundreds of tests have been faked and investigators say at this time approximately 20 teachers have come forward with confessions.

"The extent of this scheme will never be fully known, but we know that at least 400 tests were taken and at least 200 teachers falsely certified," Ogg said.

Ogg also said at least two of those who paid to obtain the fake certification were charged with indecency with a child as well as online solicitation of a minor.

"It's very troubling," Mike Levine, a felony chief in the DA Office's Public Corruption Division, said. "Because teachers — especially teachers and coaches who help influence children's behavior — we count on them for their moral compass. A part of what they do goes beyond their mastery of their subject matter."

Chargers are pending for:

* Vincent Grayson, 57: Head boy's basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD, Grayson is accused of organizing the scheme.

* Tywana Gilford Mason, 51: Former director and certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center, Mason allegedly helped conceal the proxy scheme as a test proctor.

* Nicholas Newton, 35: Assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, Newton reportedly acted as a proxy test-taker in the cheating ring.

* Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22: Proctor at TACTIX, Wilhite is accused of taking bribes to allow proxy testing.
LaShonda Roberts, 39: Assistant principal at Yates High School, Roberts is alleged to have recruited nearly 100 teachers to participate in the scheme.

Each defendant faces two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.

"The most important thing to me is that the ringleaders have been identified and are being routed out of our home school district. The fact that they held positions of power there, where they were held in esteem by the children, is the very worst part of this crime," Ogg said.

A HISD spokesperson claims the district wasn’t aware of the scheme until right before the arrests and that all employees were immediately placed on leave.

"HISD was made aware of the investigation into an alleged cheating conspiracy shortly before arrests were made. Any educator who engages in conduct of this nature abdicates their responsibility to our students and to our staff and represents a complete betrayal of the public trust. HISD will cooperate fully with the Texas Education Agency and state and local law enforcement as the investigation progresses. All three of these employees have been arrested and will be receiving notifications relieving them of their duties effective immediately.

"Additionally, if it is determined that any teachers currently working in HISD participated in this scheme or passed their certification exams fraudulently, we will take swift action to terminate their employment with the District."

The DA's office urges anyone with information about these certifications to contact local police or Crime Stoppers.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Shocked, I'll tell you. Not really.

HISD was taken over by the Texas Education Agency in 2023 due to overall underperformance, mismanagement, and ethics violations. HISD's leadership & constituency howled in protest. Yeah well, this latest scandal doesn't look as if the TEA will be ceding control anytime soon.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/n...takeover-mike-miles/

another reason to home school

Did DA Ogg ever prosecute her wife for allegedly voting in her place ? Or did she investigate and find no wrongdoing?

From left to right- Nicholas Newton, LaShonda Roberts, Vincent Greyson, Darian Nikole Wihite, Tywana Mason

quote:

"The extent of this scheme will never be fully known, but we know that at least 400 tests were taken and at least 200 teachers falsely certified," Ogg said.

That juxtaposition of numbers (400+ tests, 200+ false certificates issued) popped out at me.

The proxy test takers failed roughly half the time.

I saw this on the news last night. It's actually more widespread than Houston.

Teachers from cities as far as 2.5 hours away would fail their cert, drive down to Booker T Washington HS in Houston, give them $2500, login to the certification test, and the HISD person would take test for them.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I saw this on the news last night. It's actually more widespread than Houston...

Says right there at the top of the article, "...illegally certified teachers working in schools Texas wide", not just Houston.

I’m always amazed at the ignorance of criminals. Do they really think that they will never be caught? Yes, the one guy made about a million off it but he had to know that one day someone would tell or get busted.

Well, well, well.

Waiting on the NAACP, SPLC, and other "minority protection" groups to weigh in. If they can extort money from this, they will, IMHO.

While this statement seems harsh, it's based on what I saw in Alabama at least a couple of decades ago.

The gubernatorial administration at the time was pushing for teacher "competency" certification, because several colleges within the state were "teacher mills", turning out lots of "teachers', some of which couldn't teach a dog to pee on a fire hydrant. As a result, diagnostic tests were showing that some kids weren't testing at grade level in several areas around the state, and a review / audit started to lean towards the apparent poor quality of instruction as being the major cause.

Well, the media got ahold of these teacher certification proposals, and some "enterprising" folks made some plans, "racism" was brought up, and then the thing took a life of its own. Money was made by several groups.

As of today, Alabama still doesn't have a teacher "competency" certification program.

quote:

Additionally, if it is determined that any teachers currently working in HISD participated in this scheme or passed their certification exams fraudulently, we will take swift action to terminate their employment with the District.

Who is going to be left to teach the children?

quote:

Who is going to be left to teach the children?

Are those currently there actually teaching them?

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

Teachers from cities as far as 2.5 hours away would fail their cert, drive down to Booker T Washington HS in Houston, give them $2500, login to the certification test, and the HISD person would take test for them.

Just how difficult is this test anyway?

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
Just how difficult is this test anyway?

When you are a lazy idiot, everything is difficult.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
Just how difficult is this test anyway?

When you are a lazy idiot, everything is difficult.

Also, take into account when it started - COVID. People found themselves suddenly locked down at home without a paycheck and they started looking hard at jobs based on paycheck certainty (i.e. school districts paid teachers to teach remotely) instead of aptitude. Can't pass a certification test - fine pay someone $2500 to take it for you so you can get a recurring paycheck.

BTW, this is not the only certification scandal that HISD is facing. They're also facing uncertified teacher scandal (it's ~2100 vs ~800 the year before):

HISD sees biggest rise in uncertified teachers among 15 area districts

Uncertified teachers at HISD more than doubles this year

ABC13 investigates qualification of uncertified HISD teachers