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Three Houston Independent School District employees are among five people charged in a scheme to help hundreds of people cheat on state teacher certification tests, Harris County prosecutors announced Monday.

Prosecutors said Vincent Grayson, a longtime Booker T. Washington High School basketball coach, ran a cheating ring in which people typically paid about $2,500 for help fraudulently obtaining a college license. ‘teacher. As many as 400 people may have illegally obtained teaching certificates in Texas since 2020 through the cheating ring, earning organizers about $1 million, prosecutors said.

The scheme involved conspirators taking and administering tests on behalf of aspiring certified teachers, prosecutors said. Investigators believe the hundreds of participants are spread across the state, with some likely still in classrooms. The licenses likely helped school employees get promotions, earn higher salaries and keep their teaching jobs, prosecutors said.

“For me, the damage does not only concern the education system, which is currently under severe constraints, but also the families of the children who attend these schools, who trust the government to educate their children and ensure their safety throughout their life. life. eight hours a day,” Harris County Prosecutor Kim Ogg said during a news conference Monday.

Grayson did not immediately respond to a text message or phone call from Houston Landing. His attorney, Cheryl Irvin, declined to comment, telling The Landing that “I know next to nothing” about the details of the indictment at this time.

The arrests come amid a increase in the number of uncertified teachers get hired in Texas public schools. Fewer people are entering the teaching profession through traditional college education programs. Certified teachers must complete a bachelor’s degree, a Texas college teaching preparation program, and a state certification exam.

In a statement Monday, Texas Education Agency spokesman Jake Kobersky wrote that the department “will review all information shared by law enforcement and pursue appropriate action against any educators involved in this project.” The State Board of Educator Certification will decide any sanctions, Kobersky said.

The alleged accomplices

The two other HISD employees charged in this case are Washington High School assistant principal Nicholas Newton and Yates High School employee LaShonda Roberts. Prosecutors said Roberts was an assistant principal at Yates High, although district payroll records show she had worked as a special education director on campus since early September.

Prosecutors said Newton took exams for prospective certified teachers, while Roberts “recruited and recommended” about 90 teachers and collected about $267,000 in payments. Newton, who received more than $188,000 for his role as a test taker, was “caught red-handed taking tests for two teachers at once and made a full confession,” prosecutors said.

Roberts and Newton did not have attorneys listed in court records as of Monday afternoon.

The other two defendants are a Houston Training & Education Center staff member and a test proctor. The five defendants each face two criminal charges for engaging in organized criminal activity.

HISD became aware of the allegations “shortly” before the arrests and placed the three employees on paid leave Monday, said Alexandra Elizondo, HISD communications manager. District leaders “are still learning information” related to the case, Elizondo said.

Grayson earns a salary of about $90,000 a year as an athletic trainer at Washington High, according to district payroll records from September. He totaled more than 200 wins during his 18 years as the school’s men’s basketball coach, The Leader. reported last year. Newton receives an annual salary of $129,000, while Roberts earns $92,000, according to September payroll records.

Elizondo said HISD does not yet know if any teachers in the district obtained their licenses fraudulently. HISD will work with law enforcement and the Texas Education Agency to identify all teachers involved in the cheating scandal and terminate their contracts, Elizondo said.

“The conduct in question is completely unacceptable and completely contrary to every single one of HISD’s values, what we believe in teacher certification,” Elizondo said.

“Suddenly we pass”

Prosecutors said their investigation began in mid-2023 when the Texas Education Agency received a tip about testing irregularities at the Houston Training & Education Center. State education officials and the testing company Pearson noticed that candidates who had previously failed their teacher certification exams were coming from Dallas, Fort Worth and other far-flung areas to take their tests in Houston.

“They then drove sometimes four hours or more to the Houston area and suddenly passed the tests with flying colors,” Michael Levine, crimes chief of the public corruption division of the district attorney’s office, said Monday.

In court records, Levine described Grayson as the “organizer and kingpin” of the project. Levine wrote that Grayson identified Tywana Mason, an employee at the Houston Training & Education Center, willing to accept bribes.

Prosecutors said aspiring certified teachers would arrive, show identification, sign in and leave. During this time, Newton would take the certified aspiring teacher exam, investigators said.

Prosecutors said applicants for teacher certification would typically pay $2,500 to Grayson, who would send about 20 percent to Mason to enable the cheating.

As part of the investigation, authorities received thousands of bank and phone records, Levine said. About 20 teachers made “more or less complete confessions,” Levine wrote in court records.

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