Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Five people have been charged in Texas, accused of organizing and participating in an illegal cheating scheme that certified more than 200 unqualified teachers and saw the plot’s “kingpin” rake in more than $1 million, prosecutors announced. In the scheme, individuals would typically pay $2,500 to have a proxy take certification tests for them at two testing centers in Houston.
, a location for candidates to take certification exams. Investigators noticed a pattern: Numerous teacher certification candidates who previously failed certification exams would drive from faraway Texas cities to the Houston area to take an exam. “Suddenly, they were passing the test with flying colors,” Mike Levine, a felony chief in the DA Office’s Public Corruption Division, told reporters. Then a tip came in that exposed the cheating scheme.
was shut down in mid 2023. But even then, Grayson continued the scheme at a new location called TACTIX, Levine said. Wilhite, a young proctor at TACTIX, allegedly accepted cash bribes of $250 each time she let a testing candidate sign in, leave and let someone else test in their place, Levine said. Ongoing investigation Grayson and Roberts were arrested Monday and later released on bond. Newton was arrested Monday and is in custody in Harris County Jail.
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