Monday, November 26, 2012

Mississippi teachers participated in test-taking scheme to obtain teaching license.

 Update: Spoke to MDE and was told they can not suspend the licenses until there is a conviction.

A federal indictment states Mississippi teachers participated in a scheme to obtain teacher certifications using false identification.  The U.S. Attorney indicted Clarence Mumford, Jr. of Memphis and twelve other defendants for allegedly taking the Praxis exam for teachers in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. The indictment charges the defendants with sixty counts ranging from conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and Social Security fraud, aggravated identity theft, to fraud in connection with identification documents.

The indictment claims Mr. Mumford and others ran the scam from 1995 to 2010. These states require the Praxis exam for teachers to obtain their certifications. The defendants allegedly used false drivers license and the social security numbers of the teachers involved to take the exams for the teachers.  The defendants passed the exam and the teachers obtained their teaching licenses with the phony results.  The indictment states the Mumford ring charged $1,500 to $3,000 per test.  The false test takers would appear at test sites in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi to take the test for the teacher wishing to obtain a license. Several of the defendants were indicted several months ago but the indictment was recently amended.  August press release.


The indictment also charges Jeryl Shaw,Jaclyn McKinnie, and Steve Holmes took the exams for the accused teachers after they obtained driver's licenses with their pictures on the license but the license contained the teacher's identification information in 2009 and 2010. The indictment states the defendants furthered this scheme for teachers "GK", "FT", "KC", "DA", and "JH".

The indictment alleges Mr. Mumford "arranged for a test-taker" to take the exam for Port Gibson Middle School teacher Jadice Moore in 2010 (p.40). He obtained his license in 2011 based upon the phony results. Mr. Mumford also alleged arranged for another test-taker to take the test for defendant Kimberly Taylor, a teacher at Charleston Elementary in Charleston, Mississippi in 2009. She also obtained a teaching license based upon the Praxis results. It is alleged Meridian teacher Carlo McLelland also paid Mr. Mumford and his confederates to take the exam for him in 2009. He obtained his teaching certificate in 2011.

It is not known if these individuals are still teaching in Mississippi.  

22 comments:

Shadowfax said...

Setting myself up for cries of racism, let me be first to suggest Kingfish eventually obtain and publish demographic information regarding the scheme participants.

Anonymous said...

Criminal pedagogy.

Anonymous said...

Got this image of a guy standing on a street corner in raincoat flashing folks and saying, "Praxis anyone?" "Can I take a test for you?"

bill said...

SF, do you think that they'd release that? My hypothesis is the same as yours, I bet, but we'll never know.

Anonymous said...

$1,000 to $3,000 to pass a test for a job that pays in the mid $30k range maybe more in TN...you all may be wrong on your demographic...

Anonymous said...

Some educational philosophers argue that morals cannot be taught in the classroom and that experience is the proper teacher. Personal failure is a requisite of individual improvement in that case. Our culture is top heavy in the propagandizing job titles...so is it any wonder that the academy has problems in truth telling?

Shadowfax said...

'They' won't have to 'release it', Bill. If convictions and job terminations result, eventually guilty parties' names will be outed somewhere. With some very minor sleuthing, the rest can be determined. I'm sure KF is up to the challenge, unless he gets sidetracked by another PERS meeting.

Anonymous said...

10:47 is the flasher in the trench coat.

Anonymous said...

"$1,000 to $3,000 to pass a test for a job that pays in the mid $30k range maybe more in TN...you all may be wrong on your demographic... "

but I bet we can eliminate any business majors among the accused :-)

Anonymous said...

I was locked up once for fraud by the Sheriff of Miller County, Arkansas. My major was Social Work, but I was working for a crooked Tupelo businessman. I didn't know his major. The DA didn't charge me because the Sheriff believed me when he found out the feds were on the case. The Miss Bureau of Investigations and perhaps the Miss. Attorney General could take a clue from their Tenn. counterparts in this area.

Hello Darlin' said...

Unlikely you'll see Conway prosecuting any of the teachers who are Donkeycrats as they are all members of his herd, er, family.

Anonymous said...

The update is bologne. If MDE wanted to move against the licenses they could.

You prove a civil/regulatory case in situations like this by requesting supporting documentation from the criminal prosecutor. Usually they'll be happy to provide it because when the license is attacked the accused individual will show up and give testimony before the regulatory tribunal. The prosecutor can then take that testimony and use it in the criminal case where the person might otherwise refuse to testify.

All MDE would have to do is request the material implicating the MS teachers, open an licensure investigation and, if justified, revoke the fraudulently obtained licenses. The individuals can show up and contest the revocations, but they'll be in danger of having their testimony used against them in the criminal matter. Many times the individuals will let the revocation stand rather than opening up themselves to having their testimony read back to them in criminal court.

See? It's easy-peesy.

Anonymous said...

This has now jumped to the national news (Fox News Channel at lunchtime).

Kingfish said...

All I can do is call and ask for a quote.

Anonymous said...

The shame is that the ones who paid to have someone take the test have a degree in education and probably some have advanced degrees. The educational institutions that give not confer a degree on someone who is unable or unwilling to take and pass a basic knowledge test should be closed forthwith.

Anonymous said...

Most surprising to me is how easy the tests are.
Any college graduate and bright high school graduates should be able to pass any Praxis test.

Shadow-alarmed said...

11:37 suggests a bright person wouldn't pay a couple of thousand to get qualified for a $30K job. Or at least that's what I take him to suggest. If that's not his point, I'm at a loss as to what it may be. A job starting at $30k that increases to $60k (with masters) during a career, then PERS benefits after retirement is a sweet deal and so was the few thousand invested fraudulently.

I'm certain many of you recall a few years back when the legislature and Ed Dept considered and even allowed people who had degrees but couldn't pass entrance exams to work in the jobs anyway. Teachers who had actually applied themselves, passed all the required tests and done their jobs for a decade or so were outraged to no avail. WTF ~ Gotta cater to the demographic.

Anonymous said...

One way to improve education is to have teachers with a degree in the subject for which they are teaching rather than a degree in "education".

Shadow-noticed said...

Names of (some) Mississippi 'testees' are in the Clarion today.

Anonymous said...

The worst part of this is that there is a real possibility that there are teachers teaching in this state that cannot pass the Praxis on their own.

The Praxis isn't the easiest test in the world, but its much easier than the GRE or GMAT. Plus, Mississippi has the lowest minimum qualifications in the country.

Anonymous said...

Our lofty aims trip up the American system. We aspire to equal protection in our civil rights for special education children and then paper over the failings to arrive just short of the proper status for these pupils regardless of the resources committed. We aspire to college for all knowing that the actual student aspiration will not materialize in a large fraction. American school results are sobering and this credentials scam is revolving.

Shadowfax said...

I wonder how many millions of people are working as a result of embellished resumes, fictitious reference statements, examinations taken by other parties, results tinkered with by testing authorities, improperly conducted background investigations, omission of criminal history on applications, falsified credentials, diplomas or degrees from diploma-mills, altered transcripts and complicit hiring authorities. My guess is one out of every five workers in the United States. Maybe more.



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