More than a month after five people were indicted in a scheme to help secure positions in Texas schools for unqualified teachers. The Texas Education Agency released the first batch of more than 100 teachers under investigation.
In late October, the Harris County District revealed the alleged scheme credentials were falsified for more than 200 unqualified teachers. Five people, including the plot's "kingpin" raked in more than $1 million according to prosecutors.
On Wednesday, the TEA released the names of 102 teachers under investigation. The list showed 49 of them worked in North Texas at the end of the 2022-2023 or 2023-2024 school year.
The teachers at the center of the investigation worked at 20 North Texas school districts, including some of the largest -- Dallas, Fort Worth, Allen and Arlington.
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NBC 5 reached out to Dallas ISD for comment, the district confirmed a total of six current employees were implicated in the statewide cheating scandal and that it is fully cooperating with the TEA during the investigative process.
Rena Honea, president of Alliance AFT, the largest teachers union in Dallas, was unable to verify if the DISD employees are union members.
Honea says the union advocates for having a certified teacher in every Texas classroom.
"Our students need in this state and in the country people who, number one, who want to be there that have been trained well that understand how children learn," said Honea.
Fort Worth ISD tells NBC 5 that the TEA has identified five teachers, based on 2023-2024 Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) Data, who are currently under investigation. The district said it is cooperating fully with the TEA.
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"Like all Texas public school districts, Fort Worth ISD relies on TEA and the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) to manage and oversee teacher certification processes," the district said in a statement to NBC 5. "Fort Worth ISD is committed to upholding the highest standards for educator certification and professionalism to ensure our students receive quality instruction."
The executive director for the United Education Association, an educational employee union in Forth Worth, says none of the five FWISD employees named are union members.
In Duncanville, there are eight teachers under investigation and according to the TEA, one of those teachers is also being investigated for an inappropriate student-teacher.
Teachers implicated now have a note on their Texas Educator Certificates indicating an allegation of misconduct is being investigated by TEA staff.
A TEA spokesperson says it's up to each district to determine whether the educators remain on the job during the investigation.
NBCNews.com reported that in mid-2023, TEA investigators said they noticed numerous teachers who previously failed certification exams would drive to the Houston area to take exams and pass the test with flying colors.
The Harris County DA's office said a tip came in that exposed the scheme in which candidates would pay $2,500, then the teachers would be told where and when to appear for the test with an official at the Houston Training and Education Center who would allow someone else to take the test for them.
HTEC was shut down in mid-2023, but the DA's office said the cheating scheme continued at a new location.
The TEA said it expects additional investigations to be opened as it receives more information from the initial investigation.
