MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - There have been more guilty pleas in the teacher test taking scandal. Carlos Shaw, a former charter school principal, and Shantell Shaw, a former Memphis City Schools teacher, admitted they were paid to take certification tests for other teachers.
MCS says Shantell Shaw resigned from her teaching position at Whitehaven High School Friday. Shaw says her mentor convinced her to take certification tests for others.
Her mentor is said to be the ringleader of the test taking scandal, Clarence Mumford. They met at Trezevant High School in 2008. Shaw was a new teacher there. She says she was paid about $8,000 and took about 15 certification tests. One of them was for a teacher who failed the test 11 times. Shaw was able to dupe proctors because she looked similar to the people she took the test for.
MCS would not comment because the investigation is ongoing.
Memphis Teachers Union President, Keith Williams, says the scandal should be a wake up call. "Years ago you could only become a teacher if you were certified through a school of education with an education degree with all of your credentials, everything coming from that university. That is not true now, so I think it provides for the opportunity for people to do unsavory kinds of things."
In a recent statement, U.S. District Attorney Ed Stanton said, "The guilty pleas are another step in the ongoing effort to uncover anyone involved in this conspiracy and ensure that they are held accountable for their unethical and illegal acts."
