DALLAS — North Texas educators are among the more than 100 teachers across the state being investigated for potentially getting their certifications through fraudulent means, the Texas Education Agency confirmed.
The Texas Education Agency recently opened investigations into dozens of Dallas-Fort Worth area educators after Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced a massive criminal cheating scheme based in Houston earlier this year.
Among the districts impacted in the probe include the two largest in North Texas, including Dallas ISD and Fort Worth ISD, as well as Arlington ISD, Irving ISD, Richardson ISD, Mansfield ISD, Duncanville ISD, among others, according to the Texas Education Agency.
The TEA says the district listed may not be the educators’ current place of employment, but that was their place of employment at the end of either the 2022-23 school year or the 2023-24 school year.
Five educators were charged in connection with the alleged million-dollar teacher cheating scandal that led to fraudulently certified teachers working in Texas school districts, Ogg announced in October. As part of the scheme, investigators said the teachers would use a test-taking proxy, or a person impersonating the teacher, and a fake test administrator to take and pass the tests required for certification.
"The extent of this scheme will never be fully known, but we know that at least 400 tests were taken and at least 200 teachers falsely certified," Ogg said at the time.
The Texas Education Agency says they expect more teachers to be added to the list of pending investigations.
Sharon Fikes, President of the Education Career Alternatives Programs (ECAP) in Richland Hills has spent 34 years training teachers for certification testing and classroom instruction through her private accredited program.
Fikes, who is eager to learn more about the TEA's investigation, said the alleged scheme has rocked the education field.
"It's a major scandal. I’m just astounded that it could happen without somebody catching on earlier," Fikes said. "There had to be so many people involved in this. What I worry about is we’re gonna have such a bad reputation in Texas. It makes us look bad, and it makes us look like we’re not being careful about our teachers."
WFAA has reached out to area school districts listed in connection with the probe.
Fort Worth ISD said it's fully cooperating with TEA.
"The Fort Worth Independent School District was recently notified by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that, as part of its investigation into an alleged certification-testing scheme across the state, TEA has identified five (5) FWISD teachers (based on 2023-2024 PEIMS Data) who are under investigation by the TEA Educator Investigations division,” A Fort Worth ISD spokesperson said. “The District takes this matter seriously, is cooperating fully with TEA, and will continue to do so to address this issue thoroughly.”
Dallas ISD confirmed that some of its employees are implicated in the statewide cheating investigation.
“On Dec. 1, the Texas Education Agency notified Dallas ISD of individuals implicated in a statewide cheating scandal who are current employees of the district. A total of six employees were confirmed," the district said in a statement. "The district is fully cooperating with TEA during their investigative process."
Arlington ISD said in a December 5 statement that three employees were placed on administrative leave.
"Arlington ISD placed three employees on administrative leave today following notification from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) about potential issues with their teaching credentials. The TEA is conducting a thorough investigation, and the Arlington ISD is fully cooperating and supporting their efforts," the district said in a statement.
Richardson ISD said they have two current teachers under investigation.
"Richardson ISD was notified the afternoon of Dec. 4 by the Texas Education Agency that, as part of TEA’s investigation into an alleged teacher certification testing scheme across Texas involving hundreds of teachers, TEA has identified two current RISD teachers who are under investigation by TEA," a Richardson ISD spokesperson said in a statement.
Irving ISD said two of its former employees were caught up in the investigation.
"Irving ISD is aware of the statewide teacher certification investigation by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The two individuals listed as Irving ISD employees in the list released by TEA are no longer employed by Irving ISD and were last employed by the district in the 2023-2024 school year," Irving ISD said in a statement.
Mansfield ISD said it has two employees implicated.
"On Tuesday, the Texas Education Agency notified Mansfield ISD that two individuals employed by the district in 2023-24 are under investigation as part of the alleged teacher certification scheme in Houston," Mansfield ISD said in a statement. "As requested, MISD confirmed to TEA that both teachers are current district employees. We are cooperating fully with TEA’s investigation. In addition, MISD is conducting its own investigation into our employees and will take appropriate action."
Garland ISD said it has one employee under investigation who has been put on leave.
"Garland ISD is aware of the ongoing Texas Education Agency (TEA) investigation into teachers who may have obtained fraudulent certifications. We can confirm that one of our employees has been named in this investigation and placed on administrative leave," a Garland ISD spokesperson says. "We take this matter very seriously and are conducting our own internal review to determine the appropriate next steps. As this involves a personnel matter, we remain committed to following due process. Since the investigation is ongoing, we are unable to provide further comments at this time."
Cedar Hill ISD said the employee implicated no longer works for the district.
"The employee no longer works for CHISD. He resigned as of 5/23/2024."
Allen ISD said an employee in question will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
"Allen ISD is aware of the investigation being conducted by the Texas Education Agency, and will fully cooperate with the TEA as the investigation continues. The employee in question will be placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation."