A teacher certification scandal is rocking the Houston area, according to a statement by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Monday.

The scheme involved hundreds of teachers taking false examinations, given out by the suspects who charged per certificate, with many being falsely certified. 

The cheating ring unmasked at least five people allegedly involved in the million-dollar cheating scandal leading to fraudulently certified teachers working in the district. At least three of those charged were Houston Independent School District (HISD) employees, including two assistant principals and a high school basketball coach. 

Officials believe the basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School was the ringleader and that he made about $1 million from the scheme, charging $2,500 per certificate, although some paid more. 

Five people are charged in connection with a teacher-certification cheating ring. (Fox News)

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Ogg said the scheme goes back as far as May 2020, and it is believed that hundreds of tests have been faked and investigators say at this time approximately 20 teachers have come forward with confessions.

“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.

Ogg also said at least two of those who paid to obtain the fake certification were charged with indecency with a child as well as online solicitation of a minor.

“It’s very troubling,” Mike Levine, a felony chief in the DA Office’s Public Corruption Division, said. “Because teachers — especially teachers and coaches who help influence children’s behavior — we count on them for their moral compass. A part of what they do goes beyond their mastery of their subject matter.”

GROWING NUMBER OF TEACHERS LEAVING THE PROFESSION ACROSS THE US DUE TO BURNOUT, LOW PAY

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The downtown skyline is pictured as the sun rises on August 25, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Loren Elliott/Getty Images)

Chargers are pending for:

• Vincent Grayson, 57: Head boy’s basketball coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston ISD, Grayson is accused of organizing the scheme.
• Tywana Gilford Mason, 51: Former director and certifying official at the Houston Training and Education Center, Mason allegedly helped conceal the proxy scheme as a test proctor.
• Nicholas Newton, 35: Assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School, Newton reportedly acted as a proxy test-taker in the cheating ring.
• Darian Nikole Wilhite, 22: Proctor at TACTIX, Wilhite is accused of taking bribes to allow proxy testing.
• LaShonda Roberts, 39: Assistant principal at Yates High School, Roberts is alleged to have recruited nearly 100 teachers to participate in the scheme.

Each defendant faces two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity.

“The most important thing to me is that the ringleaders have been identified and are being routed out of our home school district. The fact that they held positions of power there, where they were held in esteem by the children, is the very worst part of this crime,” Ogg said.

TEXAS TEACHER CHARGED FOR ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT OF UNDERAGED FORMER STUDENT: POLICE

A Texas flag is on the back of a police motorcycle outside of the funeral for Dallas police Sergeant Michael Smith at Watermark Community Church, Thursday, July 14, 2016, in Dallas.  (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

A HISD spokesperson claims the district wasn’t aware of the scheme until right before the arrests and that all employees were immediately placed on leave.

“HISD was made aware of the investigation into an alleged cheating conspiracy shortly before arrests were made. Any educator who engages in conduct of this nature abdicates their responsibility to our students and to our staff and represents a complete betrayal of the public trust. HISD will cooperate fully with the Texas Education Agency and state and local law enforcement as the investigation progresses. All three of these employees have been arrested and will be receiving notifications relieving them of their duties effective immediately.

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“Additionally, if it is determined that any teachers currently working in HISD participated in this scheme or passed their certification exams fraudulently, we will take swift action to terminate their employment with the District.”

The DA’s office urges anyone with information about these certifications to contact local police or Crime Stoppers.

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Some Dodgers fans woke up extra early Thursday morning to get their hands on some World Series Championship gear. 

A small line was already forming long before the Dick’s Sporting Goods location in Pasadena was ready to open.

Dick’s locations across the greater Los Angeles area will be opening at 7 a.m. but some fans wanted to make sure they got their merchandise early after getting shut out the night before.

“It was a long ling. It closed at midnight. I would have waited even longer than two and a half hours but I wanted to be back first thing in the morning to get my merch,” Dodger fan Wayne Van said outside the store at 5:45 a.m.

Van says he was just five customers away from entering the store when it closed but remained in good spirits.

“I just want a few shirts and I’ll be so happy … I’m buying for myself and two friends who are on the night shift at the hospital so they can’t be here,” Van said.

Some fans were able to get their hands on some gear last night as soon as the Dodgers beat the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series. 

Video showed a line of people watching their cellphones outside the store, celebrating as the Dodgers recorded the final out. 

One fan who talked to KTLA Wednesday night said he spent about $1,500 on World Series gear. 

Dick’s locations in Pasadena, West Covina, Upland Colonies, El Segundo, Chino, Tustin, Santa Clarita, Esplanade Center, Edinger Plaza, Antelope Valley Mall, Cerritos, Glendale, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Northridge, Eastvale and The Mall of Victor Valley will be opening early Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — When the World Series started, it was hard to figure what Freddie Freeman would be able to provide for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He left no doubt about the MVP winner.

Freeman broke records by homering in the first four games and matched a Fall Classic mark with 12 RBIs to power the Dodgers past the New York Yankees for their second championship in five years.

“That means there was a lot of my teammates on base,” Freeman said after being presented with the World Series MVP award, named in honor of Willie Mays. “I’m glad I was able to get hot at the right time.”

The popular slugger delivered yet again Wednesday night with a two-run single off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in a five-run fifth inning that helped rally Los Angeles to a clinching 7-6 victory in Game 5.

Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson also drove in 12 runs in 1960 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the championship that year on Bill Mazeroski’s famous homer that ended Game 7.

Freeman compiled his total in just five games against New York, setting several World Series standards along the way.

The 35-year-old first baseman homered in each of the first four games, becoming the first player to accomplish that feat. The streak began when he launched the first game-ending grand slam in World Series history to win a dramatic opener in Los Angeles.

Freeman’s two-run drive in the first inning Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium made him the only player to go deep in six consecutive Series games, dating to the 2021 title he won with Atlanta.

He was robbed of an extra-base hit in the fourth inning of Game 5 when Aaron Judge made a sensational catch of his long drive while crashing hard into the fence.

But the MVP award put a joyous cap on a scary and trying season for the Freeman family. Freeman missed eight games in July and August after his 3-year-old son, Maximus, fell ill while watching his father at the All-Star Game festivities in Texas.

When the family returned home, Max was hospitalized and put on a ventilator after he experienced partial paralysis and breathing difficulty. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré, the rare neurological condition that affects the immune system, nerves and muscles.

Max’s condition gradually improved, and Freeman returned to work Aug. 5. He was welcomed back by a huge ovation from Dodgers fans that prompted tears from Freeman.

“I wish I’d never had to go through what we did as a family. But ultimately Maximus is doing really, really well right now. He’s a special boy, but it has been a grind for three months. It really has. It’s been a lot,” Freeman said.

“Then obviously with the injuries at the end, it makes it all worth it kind of in the end. I’ll never compare Maximus to baseball. I won’t. It’s just two separate things, but with him doing really well now, it does mean a little bit extra.”

Freeman batted .282 this season with 22 homers and 89 RBIs. An eight-time All-Star and the 2020 NL MVP with Atlanta, he is a .300 career hitter with 343 homers, 1,232 RBIs and an .899 OPS in 15 major league seasons. He has hit .300 or better eight times.

Freeman sprained his right ankle on Sept. 26 against San Diego while trying to avoid a tag at first base by Luis Arráez and missed the Dodgers’ last three regular-season games. He didn’t have any RBIs in the NL Division Series against the Padres and only one in the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.

Freeman missed three games during the NL playoffs because of his ailing ankle. He didn’t play in the NLCS finale against the Mets and had six days off entering the World Series, allowing time for the ankle to feel better.

“I did a lot of work in between the NLCS and the World Series. Thankfully, my ankle got into a good spot where I could work on my swing, and I found a cue that really worked for me,” he said. “I was able to slow things down. All you’re trying to do is swing at strikes, take balls, and hit the mistakes. Thankfully, I was able to do that for five games.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts puts Freeman on his Mount Rushmore of favorite players along with teammate Mookie Betts.

“He’s got gratitude, the desire to play every day, to know that this is a job and your job is to play and you’ve got to maximize your value — that’s by playing,” Roberts said Tuesday. “He’s my favorite player to be around as far as what he does for the culture of the organization.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb