*Federal authorities are investigating a Texas cheating scandal in which more than 200 uncertified teachers allegedly paid for someone to take their certification exams.
Vincent Grayson, a former Houston teacher, is accused of leading the scheme with Nicholas Newton, an assistant principal who reportedly impersonated test-takers, SandraRose.com reports via CNN. According to prosecutors, the scheme netted over $300,000, resulting in the placement of uncertified teachers in classrooms across the state. State and local education officials are now working to identify these teachers.
Grayson was the basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School where Newon was the assistant principal. LaShonda Roberts, another school administrator at Jack Yates Senior High School, allegedly acted as a recruiter for the scheme.
“The most important thing to me is the ringleaders have been identified and are being rooted out of our home school district … and 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,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told reporters Monday.
“They didn’t deserve those kids’ respect and I think it leaves children feeling betrayed, not knowing who to trust.”
“The extent of the 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.
Two additional individuals unaffiliated with the district have also been charged. Prosecutors stated that all five defendants face two counts of organized criminal activity and a felony money laundering charge.
Hear more about this case in the YouTube clip below.
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