‘Circle of greed’: How a $1 million teacher program left hundreds of uncertified teachers in Texas classrooms

Ray Sanchez, CNN

(CNN) — Robert “Boo Lee” Williams was still seething after the popular basketball coach and two assistant principals at Houston’s first two historically black high schools were arrested in connection with an alleged teacher certification program.

“Man, I almost cried,” Williams, a graduate of Jack Yates Senior High School in the predominantly Black Greater Third Ward, told CNN on Friday night. We are fighting hard to overcome this and show that we are more than qualified. …I’m just being honest with you.

Prosecutors said more than 200 people with teaching credentials paid for someone else to take the state certification exam and are now scattered in classrooms across Texas.

“The most important thing to me is that these leaders have been identified and rooted out of our school district … and the fact that they were in a position of power there and had the respect of the children is the worst element of this crime,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told reporters.

“They haven’t earned the respect of these children and I think it makes the children feel betrayed and not know who to trust.”

The Houston Independent School District employee arrested was Vincent Grayson, a longtime teacher and head basketball coach at the school Booker T. Washington High School described by prosecutors as the ringleader of the scheme, along with Nicholas Newton, the school’s deputy principal and alleged test taker, who helped teachers fraudulently pass hundreds of tests.

LaShonda Roberts, an assistant principal at Yates, was also arrested for what Ogg said was her role as a “recruiting and referral agent who attracted many people who sought the services of an impersonation test taker.” Two other people who are not county employees were also charged.

“The scope of the program will never be fully known, but we do know that at least 400 tests were administered and at least 200 teachers were fraudulently certified,” Ogg said.

Prosecutors said all five defendants face two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity: one count of money laundering because the scheme allegedly netted more than $300,000; and engaging in organized criminal activity by tampering with a government document based on false statements made during testing. They have not yet entered any pleas.

Two other defendants who are not employed by the school district were identified as Darian Nikole Wilhite and Tywana Gilford Mason, who prosecutors say were proctors for the certification exams. CNN has reached out to Wilhite’s attorney for comment. A spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney said Gilford Mason is in another state and has not been arrested.

HISD, which has an enrollment of nearly 200,000 mostly black and Latino students, is the largest in Texas and the eighth largest in the country. Booker and Yates, respectively, were founded as the city’s first two high schools for black students before desegregation.

How the cheating scandal worked

Grayson, described by Ogg as “chief and program organizer,” worked for nearly 20 years at Booker T. Washington, which, according to the HISD website, was originally called Colored High when it opened in 1893. It was later renamed a famous Black educator who helped found the Tuskegee Institute.

Grayson’s attorney, Cheryl Irvin, confirmed the seriousness of the allegations but said she was waiting for evidence against her client. Grayson was released on bail.

“We all know that the community is struggling with the education system,” she told the CNN affiliate KHOU after Friday’s hearing. CNN has reached out to Irwin for comment.

“The burden is on the state to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. “At this point, Mr. Grayson is presumed innocent, so we will wait and see what evidence they have against him so we can evaluate what we should do next,” she said.

Grayson was typically paid $2,500 to teach certification candidates how to take exams through an impersonator at testing centers, where he paid promoters about 20% of that amount to facilitate the fraud, prosecutors say.

Grayson allegedly made over $1 million from the program.

“It’s almost certainly more because there’s cash here too – is harder to track,” Mike Levine, chief criminal prosecutor in the district’s public corruption unit, told reporters.

Certification candidates arrived at the testing center, logged in and left, and “a few minutes later, Nicholas Newton, the replacement tester, sat down in his seat, took the test and passed it,” Levine said.

At times, Levine claims, Newton allegedly took more than one test at a time.

“In fact, when he was caught red-handed in February 2024, he was entered into one test,” Levine said. “He told investigators, ‘Well, look at the screen behind you,’ and was logged in as a different person who was taking another test on a different terminal that same day.”

Newton’s attorney, Feroz Merchant, declined to comment Friday, saying he had not yet seen any evidence against his client. Newton was being held on bail.

Roberts’ lawyer, Brandon Leonard, called the allegations “baseless” and said his client “has dedicated more than a decade of her life to serving students and supporting teachers, often under difficult and high-pressure conditions.” She was released on bail.

“In this country, every person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and so far we have only seen allegations – no evidence, no proof. These accusations are simply baseless claims and we will aggressively defend against them. “Ms. Roberts looks forward to her day in court where we are confident the truth will come to light,” CNN said in a statement.

The arrangement of long disks helps unravel the pattern

According to Levine, the problem began to surface in 2023 when the Texas Education Agency “became aware of certain irregularities” at one of the testing centers in Houston.

A former district coach who was applying for a job as a police officer in another part of the state suffered what Ogg called an “attack of conscience” and notified the education agency.

“The most interesting irony to me in this cycle of greed is that even though the perpetrators are the people we entrust our children to… it was actually a good Samaritan with a conscience who brought this plan to light,” she said. .

An interesting pattern immediately emerged: Investigators found that novice teachers, including many who had failed the exams in other parts of Texas, traveled for hours to the Houston facility, where Levine said they passed the exam “with flying colors.”

“Often these individuals have previously failed one or more attempts at the certification exam. Then they would drive sometimes four or more hours to the Houston area and all of a sudden they would pass the test,” Levine said.

HISD employees affected by the program have been placed on administrative leave. “All three employees have been arrested and will be given immediate notice of relief from their duties,” district spokeswoman Alexandra Elizondo said in a statement.

“HISD was informed of the investigation into the alleged fraud conspiracy shortly before the arrests were made. “Any teacher who engages in this type of conduct is abdicating their responsibility to our students and staff, which is a complete betrayal of the public trust,” Elizondo said.

Trying to find teachers who cheated

Now local and state education officials are trying to track down teachers who cheated on certification exams.

“If it is determined that teachers currently working at HISD participated in this program or passed their certification exams fraudulently, we will take swift action to terminate their employment,” Elizondo said.

Pearson VUE, the vendor that develops the teacher licensing exam for the state education agency, said it continues to “cooperate with TEA on an active investigation.”

“Maintaining valid, credible ratings and the public trust is paramount to us,” Pearson spokeswoman Allison Bazin said in a statement. “We are committed to integrity in professional certification and licensing testing, and we actively monitor, investigate and report suspicious activity or anomalies to our clients. When problems arise, we take decisive action, fully cooperating with customers and law enforcement when necessary.

The Texas Education Agency said in a statement that it “will review any information made available by law enforcement and will take appropriate action against any teacher involved in this scheme.” According to authorities at the State Commission for Teacher Certification, “a final decision on possible sanctions will be imposed.” statement shared with KHOU.

“Frauduously certified teachers run the gamut,” Levine said. “They’re not just in the Houston area. They’re not just in the Dallas area. They are literally littered all over the state.”

According to prosecutors, the program is to be in force at least from May 2020.

“Worse still, the rogue teachers include at least two sexual predators who, after obtaining false certification, had access to underage children on and off campus through their employment,” Ogg said. “One was charged with indecency with a child, the other with online solicitation… Currently, we only know of these two cases, but there may be others.”

Levine said some teachers were hired without passing the certification exams, but were required to pass them within a year or two. In other cases, he said, positions such as teacher’s aides required exams for advancement.

Levine said investigators interviewed dozens of teachers, and about 20 of them cooperated and gave nearly identical versions of events.

“We count on teachers and coaches who help influence children’s behavior to act as a moral compass for them,” he said. “To think that so many people without what I would consider a proper moral compass were trying to educate and influence children across the state is definitely disturbing.”

said Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson KHOU: “Anyone who chooses anything other than the legal or ethical path, it’s very disappointing… It’s disturbing because we have thousands of teachers who put in the time to study, who put in the work to prepare assessments and pass.”

Williams, 76, a Yates High graduate, said he was shocked when he first heard the news of the arrests of staff at the predominantly black schools that have long been a source of identity and pride for the poorest and most needy students in city. Yates, founded in 1926was named after a former slave who became an influential minister in Houston.

Williams said Yates’ alumni over the years have included journalist and television host Roland Martin, actress Phylicia Rashad and her sister, choreographer Debbie Allen, as well as numerous city leaders and professional athletes. Williams also helps administer Facebook page dedicated to Booker T. Washington High School.

“It’s not just a black school in Houston. It is currently the oldest black school in the state of Texas. This is history,” he said of Booker T. Washington High School. “We need people so that our story can continue.”

Adjustment: An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the CNN affiliate that interviewed Vincent Grayson’s lawyer, Cheryl Irvin. It was KHOU.