200+ Texas educators had someone else take their teacher certification exams, prosecutors say
HOUSTON – Texas prosecutors have filed felony charges against five people in an elaborate teacher certification cheating scandal, leading to hundreds of teachers in classrooms throughout the state, including some in North Texas, without proper certifications.
It's a million-dollar teacher certification cheating scandal sending shockwaves through the Texas education community, including with Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson.
"It's very disappointing because we have thousands of teachers across the state who put in the time," Anderson said.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg filed charges against five people in a massive teacher cheating ring, leading to unqualified teachers in classrooms in the Houston area and throughout the state.
"The damage is not just to the education system, which is under great duress right now, but it's actually to the families of the children who go to those schools who trust our government to educate their kids," Ogg said.
Prosecutors believe basketball coach Vincent Grayson, 57, of Booker T. Washington High School in Houston started the scheme for those who couldn't pass their teacher certification exam by letting them pay someone else to take the exam for them and paying him $2,500.
"At least two sexual predators who were falsely certified had access through their employment to underage kids on campus and off," Ogg said.
Investigators said Grayson shared some of the money with two testing center employees to let someone else take the test.
Harris County felony chief prosecutor Mike Levine alleges one person taking and passing the test is an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School in the Houston ISD.
"In fact, when he was caught red-handed in February 2024, he was logged in on one test, and the screen behind him was logged in on another terminal that same day," Levine said.
Prosecutors believe the scheme may have led to more than 200 illegally certified teachers ending up in classrooms since 2020, and they add many teachers traveled four or more hours to the Houston area to get fake certifications.
"It just destroys that kind of faith that our community has in public schools," Ogg said.
Yates High School assistant principal LaShonda Roberts, 39, has also been charged for allegedly recruiting around 100 teachers for the scheme.
The five defendants face two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.
