TEA investigates 100 teachers involved in certification fraud organization

The Texas Education Agency is investigating more than 100 teachers for possible involvement in a Houston-based cheating group. As a result, hundreds of people obtained fraudulent teaching licenses over the past few years, prosecutors said.

Of the 102 teachers surveyed, 15 identified as having worked in Houston ISD in recent years, according to a list TEA shared with The Houston Landing on Wednesday morning. Thirteen of the 15 names match employees listed on the district’s October payroll records.

Communications Director Alexandra Elizondo said HISD administrators learned late Tuesday which teachers were being investigated in connection with the scandal, in addition to the three employees identified in October. The district is in the process of placing them on paid leave.

“We believe this behavior is completely unacceptable,” Elizondo said. “As soon as we learned who was involved and was being investigated for fraudulent certifications, we began the process of placing them on administrative leave.”

In the Houston area, Cy-Fair, Fort Bend, Spring and Katy ISDs all had two to four educators listed for review. Nine of the educators targeted in the investigation had worked in Dallas ISD in recent years, and eight had worked in Duncanville ISD.

The investigation is separate from the criminal prosecution of five people involved in the misconduct, and could result in the teachers having their Texas teaching licenses revoked.

The update comes after the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced in late October that it had indicted five people, including three HISD employees, in connection with a multi-year scheme to help teachers across the state obtain fraudulent teaching licenses. It was done later.

TEA expects more teachers to be reviewed in the coming weeks and months.

“TEA fully expects additional investigations to be initiated as we receive more information,” spokesman Jake Koversky wrote in an email.

In October, prosecutors said Vincent Grayson, the longtime boys basketball coach at Booker T. said Yates High School employee Lashonda Roberts, who was a co-conspirator. Prosecutors said Roberts was an assistant principal at Yates High School, but district payroll records show she worked as the campus’ special education director as of early October.

The scheme netted organizers $1 million in profits, and the fraudulent licenses likely helped school staff get promotions, higher salaries and keep their teaching jobs, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the teachers who participated in the cheating ring typically paid Newton about $2,500 to take the tests in their names, while Grayson led the operation and Roberts took about 90 percent of the money. The school reportedly “recruited and introduced” new teachers. Newton was eventually “caught red-handed, having been tested by two teachers at the same time, and made a full confession,” prosecutors said. Prosecutors said in court records that about 20 teachers involved in the scandal also confessed.

In late October, HISD Director of Communications Alexandra Elizondo said Grayson, Newton and Roberts were all placed on paid administrative leave. She said at the time that the district would work with law enforcement and the TEA to identify and terminate the contracts of teachers involved in the cheating scandal.

“The conduct in question is completely unacceptable and completely contrary to HISD’s values ​​and everything we believe about teacher qualifications,” Elizondo said in October.

Asher Lehrer-Small covers the landing for Houston ISD. Find @by_ash_ls on Instagram, @small_asher on X, or contact him directly at asher@houstonlanding.org.

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