The Texas Education Agency has released the names of more than 100 teachers implicated in a pay-to-pass certification scheme, some of whom have been employed by schools in North Texas.
As reported by The Dallas Express in late October, Harris County investigators were notified by a former teacher of an alleged cheating ring run by five Houston area educators.
A Houston ISD assistant principal allegedly took the certification test on behalf of applicants who had previously struggled to pass the exam.
Two other HISD educators allegedly recruited the applicants to participate in the scheme, which involved paying two test proctors to facilitate the cheating.
The organizers of the cheating ring have since been indicted on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity. More than 200 teachers across the state have been identified as falsely certified. The organizers of the ring allegedly raked in more than $1 million.
“We know at least 400 tests were taken, and 200 teachers were falsely certified,” said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, per Fox 4 KDFW.
She also said that two of the falsely certified teachers were sexual predators who gained access to underage students.
On Wednesday, the TEA released the first batch of teachers’ names under investigation. The list of 102 names includes 49 teachers who have worked in North Texas over the past two years.
Dallas ISD confirmed that six of its current employees are under investigation, and Fort Worth ISD said that five of its teachers from the 2023-2024 school year are under investigation, NBC 5 DFW reported. Both districts said they are cooperating fully with the TEA and the ongoing investigation.
Other North Texas independent school districts that have teachers linked to the investigation include Allen, Arlington, Crowley, DeSoto, Duncanville, Eagle Mountain -Saginaw, Everman, Garland, Irving, Lancaster, Mansfield, Mesquite, Mineral Wells, Princeton, Red Oak, Richardson, and Waxahachie, along with International Leadership.
According to a TEA, each school district can determine whether teachers under investigation will remain on the job during the investigation.