Certification Scandal Rocks Texas School System

The school system in Texas may have to be reformmed and reorganized after a teacher certification scandal was discovered in the Houston area.

According to a statement by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg last 28 October, 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 US$ 1 million from the scheme, charging US$ 2,500 per certificate, although some paid more.

Ogg said in a press statement that 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.

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.