Black Mother Jailed For Sending Kids to White School District

[kpete]

Black Mother Jailed For Sending Kids to White School District

24 Jan 2011

by James Quin

An Ohio mother of two was sentenced to 10 days in jail and placed on three years probation after sending her kids to a school district in which they did not live. Kelly Williams-Bolar was sentenced by Judge Patricia Cosgrove on Tuesday and will begin serving her sentence immediately.

The jury deliberated for seven hours and the courtroom was packed as the sentence was handed down. She was convicted on two counts of tampering with court records after registering her two girls as living with Williams Bolar’s father when they actually lived with her. The family lived in the housing projects in Akron, Ohio, and the father’s address was in nearby Copley Township.

Additionally, Williams-Bolar’s father, Edward L. Williams, was charged with a fourth-degree felony of grand theft, in which he and his daughter are charged with defrauding the school system for two years of educational services for their girls. The court determined that sending their children to the wrong school was worth $30,500 in tuition.

.......it’s interesting how courts find it convenient to make someone into an example when they happen to be poor and black. I’d love to see how they prosecute wealthy white women who commit the same offense. Oh, I forgot: Most wealthy white women don’t have to send their kids to the schools located near the projects.

more:
http://antikryptos.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/black-mother-jailed-for-sending-kids-to-white-school-district-2/
http://drboycespeaks.blogspot.com/2011/01/mother-jailed-for-sending-kids-to-wrong.html
http://www.ohio.com/hottopic/114372139.html

[Taverner]

1. Jeez, Brown v Board of Ed all over again...

[Hannah Bell]

2. wtf? jail time & probation for a "crime" routinely committed by thousands of parents across the

country with impunity?

[gateley]

6. She's Black. nt

[xfundy]

31. Yep.

she shouldn't have chosen to live the black lifestyle.



(In case it's not obvious, it's sarcasm.)

[appal_jack]

60. Everyone in my neighborhood played this game.

Everyone in my childhood neighborhood (lower middle class, reasonably diverse ethnicities) played this game in order to try to send their kids to a better public school. No one was sent to jail.

I find the notion of jailing a mom who is trying to give her kids an educational step-up (ESPECIALLY when their dad DOES live in the preferred school district) criminally absurd.

If she does one minute of jail time, while the BFEE gang and Goldman Sachs criminals still walk free with impunity, my faith in this Republic will be further diminished.

k&r

-app

[Maru Kitteh]

3. is there any information available about the racial makeup of the jury?

This is the first time I've ever - in my life - heard of someone being sent to JAIL for sending their kids to school for Gods sake.

[kpete]

5. compilation of stories from the trial coverage and what transpired afterward.

http://www.ohio.com/hottopic/114372139.html

[Maru Kitteh]

16. Jailed mom is just a few credit-hours away from a teaching degree - works with special needs kids

yeah, she's a real threat to society, that one.

What a damned tragedy. Didn't find anything about the jury though.

[Kweli4Real]

39. Unfortunately ...

As a convicted felon, her teaching degree will be worthless. No school district will hire her. And her Teacher's Aide job just went away too.

All for trying to do better by her children. Gotta love this system of justice ... as the comedian once referred to it: "Just Us."

[blueamy66]

76. Felony?

Are you kidding me?

[liberalhistorian]

98. She could have found other ways to better her

children than fraud, deception and tampering with records.

[Bluerthanblue]

124. like???

it's so easy to think you'd do it better... :thumbsdown: life is always easier when it isn't YOU in the real shoes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

136. Like moving in with her father

Then she would have been a legal resident of the school district.

[Bluerthanblue]

143. she shouldn't have had to go to that extreem.- her fathers taxes

should be enough-
This outrage about how "she broke the rules" is such a bunch of hooey.

The school wouldn't have gotten any more tax money had she moved in with her father.

[proud2BlibKansan]

157. So since my kids are no longer in school, I can designate who MY tax dollars educate?

I don't think that's how it works.

[joshcryer]

164. Your tax dollars should not go to educating one specific group in particular in the first place.

Students should all be funded from a simple system and they should not get better teachers just because of their demographics.

[Bluerthanblue]

169. exactly!

well said, and thank you.

[stranger81]

177. Best post on this thread. n/t

[Bluerthanblue]

168. that may not be how it works, but it sure does make the argument

that the children are getting something that isn't being "paid for" by her family pretty weak.

What about the taxes going from her rent in Akron? She isn't getting the benefit from that. Is an education the responsibility of society or not?

How about all the people in your town who didn't have children in the system? Why should they have had to contribute to the education of YOUR children given your perspective, that- only those who live in the town and pay taxes to the school district- deserve access to the school. Why stop with the 'town line'? Why not just charge parents and leave those without vested interests out of the burden?-

Your attitude doesn't really square with the notion that the education of Americas children is Everyone's responsibility. Seperate but unequal isn't supposed to be the American way.

[Pithlet]

186. What other ways would that be? nt

[fishwax]

103. as a convicted felon, she won't even be allowed to get the degree

In Ohio, at least:

http://drboycespeaks.blogspot.com/2011/01/mother-jailed-for-sending-kids-to-wrong.html

"Because of the felony conviction, you will not be allowed to get your teaching degree under Ohio law as it stands today," the judge said. "The court's taking into consideration that is also a punishment that you will have to serve."
Text

[we can do it]

67. What's Worse Is This Was a FELONY and She Will Never Be Able To Teach.

I hate fucking ohio........

[liberalhistorian]

100. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want my child's teacher to

be someone who was known to falsify records, commit fraud and lie to get what she wanted. Not at all.

[proud2BlibKansan]

128. That's my first thought as well

[Occulus]

185. You're both so liberal. n/t

[joshcryer]

130. You wouldn't want your childs teacher to do anything they could to help a child learn?

;)

[proud2BlibKansan]

134. She broke the law

There are other ways to do what she was trying to do. Why didn't she just move in with her father instead of just using his address?

[joshcryer]

147. Eh, she should've agreed to the fine. But I think she wanted to make a bigger point.

That she had to break the law because the district where she lived would've put her children at a disadvantage. Morally I do not see that she did anything wrong, at all.

I know that law trumps morality, though.

But it used to be that blacks couldn't vote.

[Bluerthanblue]

155. this is in effect and act of civil disobedience- the law is being

applied to her harshly and with prejudice imo.

[joshcryer]

159. Agree. And I hope it helps discourse recognize that money isn't the problem with bad schools.

Bad schools are bad for other reason, I can't say what as I don't know the situation completely, but I did read the report card for Copley and Akron, and I can tell you, that given how much money they get respectively, there is no justification for Akron's lower scores.

What a lot of people don't know is that even after blacks were allowed to vote, they were still fucked over with regards to rights, it's called Redlining: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining

It exists today, and it is a fucking travesty, and we can see in some aspects of this story this is exactly what is happening.

[Mimosa]

189. That is so unfair!

America has turned into a country which criminalises an unconscionable number of poorer people. Yet it looks like we'll not see any concerted investigations or prosecutions for the upperclass investment brigands who systematically pillaged people's savings, mutual funds, et al.

This MOTHER does not deserve to be criminilised. She probably could not afford the expenses involved in moving but she wanted the best education possible for her children. It's not fair that resources are not shared. And that some school districts are allowed to deteriorate and the kids who can't get out of the failing systems don't have an even start in life.

[True_Blue]

11. I would be curious to know that too..

The sentence is ludicrous.

[liberalhistorian]

97. It wasn't for sending them to school, it was for

fraud, deception and theft, period. Read the entire article. She even fraudulently tampered with records. It was NOT for sending them to school.

[atreides1]

107. What was her motive?

To be able to send her children to a better school.

[liberalhistorian]

110. So committing crimes and costing a lot of money

to a school district is justified? I don't think so.

[joshcryer]

153. No money was "lost."

[Bluerthanblue]

158. well, except the money they paid the private dick

... sad that they begrudge her daughters a place at their table and are willing to hire someone to spy on her.
:shrug:

What a statement this makes about the things that really matter.

[joshcryer]

161. True, but I am sure it was far less than the $30k they claim they "lost."

[liberalhistorian]

183. Um, yes it was. The school expends a certain amount of money

on each student and if they don't receive that amount from taxes, then yes, they do, indeed, "lose" it. I grew up with teachers, I know how it works.

[chowhound]

148. oh so the ends justify the means

how very republican of you

[joshcryer]

152. Haha, garbage.

[Bluerthanblue]

154. yes, in this case it does. The children's grandfather was paying

taxes in the town- It's not like they had no ties to the town.

This case would never have been brought had the woman been white and well-off.

Welcome to DU, you might want to read the rules page. Calling other posters 'republicans' is a violation. You can make your point in better ways.

:hi:

[mzmolly]

175. Here's info on the white superintendent. He's into thoroughbred horse racing.

http://www.akron.com/akron-ohio-education-news.asp?aID=7928

Probably never knew a day without ponies.

[teenagebambam]

WTF indeed

I grew up in Ohio in a very small school district, and it was routine for kids to "live" with their grandparents or other relatives in order to go to our school instead of to the larger city school district nearby. Of course, we were white.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. I don't get this part:

The court determined that sending their children to the wrong school was worth $30,500 in tuition.

If the 'white" school charged tuition, how did the kids get in without paying it for 2 years?

If the white school did not charge tuition, is that not an admission that the
"white" school has higher value ( more education) that the school near the projects.
ie: Brown vs. BOE all over again, indeed.

[hughee99]

12. I'm guessing this is what happened

The white school figured out they spend about $7,500 per student, per year.

There were two children attending their school for 2 years who were not "entitled" to be educated at that school because they didn't live in the district, so in that sense, the school was paying for the education of "out of town" children.

[jeffedgmon]

23. Exactly what I was thinking..

How could it be a felony, if they're both public schools? Something is definitely strange with this case. In essence, aren't they saying that the other school is better?

[Xithras]

30. I think the hitch here is that it's different school districts in different towns.

After doing a little reading, it appears that the Copley schools are primarily funded through local property taxes, while Akron's are mostly funded by the state.

Their argument is that she not only deprived the Akron schools of much needed state funds, but that she also stole from the taxpayers of Copley by sending her kids to a school and district that she hadn't paid any taxes to fund.

What they're saying, in essence, is that Copley schools are paid for by Copley taxpayers, and therefore are only open to Copley residents. By lying about living in the town, she was "stealing" services that the actual residents had paid for.

Not that I agree with the punishment, of course. Expelling the kids should have been the end of it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

47. The father, however, presumably pays taxes in Copley, no?

How are they getting a settlement against him when he actually pays the Copley taxes?

[LisaL]

48. I believe the father is charged for something different.

"Williams, 64, was charged with the two felonies in 2009, court records show, accused of providing false information to the Summit County Department of Job and Family Services regarding his marital status and wife's income."
http://www.ohio.com/news/114533394.html

[lildreamer316]

49. Okay, but doesn't the father live in Copley?

Maybe I read it wrong.

But if he does, then he paid the taxes, and therefore no one was robbed of anything that wasn't paid for.

[verges]

106. The kid's Grandfather. not father. nt

[Canuckistanian]

64. Whether state or local, she paid taxes SOMEWHERE

In the grand scheme of things, she paid her taxes to educate her kids.

So does she now have a right to demand a rebate of the taxes SHE paid?

Fair is fair.

[liberalhistorian]

99. But the taxes she paid didn't go to the district

where they attended, and the separate districts are funded differently. So, no, she didn't pay taxes to educate her children.

[joshcryer]

123. No, she paid rent to keep a house over their head and heroically risked her life for them.

[Bluerthanblue]

140. +1000!

this is frickin ridiculous.

[Bluerthanblue]

133. her FATHER pays taxes in the town where the children went to school

aren't his granddaughters worthy of/entitled to a decent education?

What of all the childless people in the town who pay property taxes and don't have kids in the system- The education of all of Americas children is the responsibility of EVERYONE. At least that's the way the system has been set up.

When we spend money to educate the children of this country we are investing in ourselves. This case is such a sad statement about the inherent racism and class-ism that bubbles under the surface of our great 'society'.

[proud2BlibKansan]

160. That's not how it works though

She should have moved in with her father. Problem solved. Instead, she is now a convicted felon and can't teach.

[joshcryer]

163. What's done is done. She was treated unfairly and the laws are unjust.

Simple.

[NashVegas]

87. If Akron Homeowners Aren't Footing the Bill For Schools?

That's fucked up. Do so few people own homes, or are they just cheapskates?

[joshcryer]

122. They're forced to rent, no credit to buy, no job security, list goes on.

[proud2BlibKansan]

132. Renters pay property taxes; it's part of their rent

[joshcryer]

135. Landlords get tax breaks, renters are not recognized as having paid property taxes.

Unless the lease specifically specifies so.

[proud2BlibKansan]

137. All landlords don't get property tax breaks

Maybe a select few.

[joshcryer]

142. There are so many deductions that landlords get it's absurd.

[proud2BlibKansan]

162. Bullshit

I know plenty of landlords. My DH and I are looking at buying rental property ourselves. There are no tax breaks. And the rent we charge will include a portion that we will use to pay the property tax.

[joshcryer]

165. Feel free to read up on the many many deductions that you can get if you have rental property.

You need to look in to the loopholes, if you want to be a proper capitalist.

[verges]

105. Different school districts.

She was paying taxes to Akron schools but sending her kids to Copley without paying taxes. That's fraud.

[joshcryer]

129. Rather, she was poor and could not afford to live in Copley, but decided to give her kids a chance.

The fraud that was committed is the bullshit tuition fees that Copley charges.

[proud2BlibKansan]

131. They are saying that the residents of that school district pay taxes to support those schools

If you aren't a resident. you aren't paying taxes. So you are charged tuition.

This is actually common practice in public schools districts. You can usually send your kids to a district where you don't live if you pay tuition.

[joshcryer]

141. Yeah, it's a nice scam, actually. Keep the tuition high enough and people who can't "afford"...

...to live in the neighborhood aren't going to send their kids there anyway.

Nevermind the fact that Copley's per pupil expenses are smaller than Akron's. :shrug:

Fucking despicable.

Report card for Copley: http://www.ode.state.oh.us/reportcardfiles/2009-2010/DIST/049981.pdf

Report card for Akron: http://www.ode.state.oh.us/reportcardfiles/2009-2010/DIST/043489.pdf

Bob Dyer writes a really sickening post about it: http://www.ohio.com/news/first/114441794.html

Copley's annual per-pupil expenditure is $9,928 (only $2,071 coming from the state), while Akron's is $13,200 ($6,601 from the state).

[Bluerthanblue]

149. the 'tuition' is being paid by the GRANDFATHER- he lives in the town

and he is related to the children.

This would never have happened to a well off white family.

NH has the same system- property taxes fund the schools it's an incredibly stupid way to apportion the burden of educating the citizens of tomorrow. We've had no end of problems as a result.

[joshcryer]

151. It's not really about money, it's about demographics.

As I keep repeating, Akron pays more per pupil than Copley. Apparently the school district in Akron is in very very very bad shape.

You're poor, you have bad credit, you can't buy a house, you can't get a job in a white neighborhood, what do you do? What choice do you have to get your kid a better education? It doesn't exist.

[proud2BlibKansan]

156. Why didn't she just move in with her father?

Then she would have been a resident.

[joshcryer]

166. We may never know. But it's irrelevant. She should've paid the fine and profusely apologized, etc.

[verges]

172. Exactly! But, she didn't. And therefore she commited fraud. nt

[mzmolly]

176. I'm not sure everyone wants to live with their parents.

As a former teacher, how many people have you seen convicted of a crime like this? I'm guessing it's very rare.

[uponit7771]

29. Good point, worth sending to her lawyers

[LisaL]

40. There might be a difference in taxes someone pays for living in one area

vs. the other, although I doubt it that much per person.
Public schools don't charge tuition.

[joshcryer]

150. The difference isn't very much, in Summit County, but they do parcel the tax rate.

Some people in Copely pay less taxes than Akron and vice versa: http://www.co.summit.oh.us/

[msanthrope]

55. It's a valuation, done to establish the felony nature of the crime.....

Let's say, for example...and this is COMPLETELY hypothetical....that one has a client charged with stealing a traffic sign.

Let's say the hypothetical DA charged this as a felony theft.

But let's say that the PD noted to the court that the DA had failed to establish the valuation, or worth of said stolen object.

One then would negate the felony charge. Hypothetically.
;-)

[ehrnst]

79. In my county, non-residents have to pay tuition to attend the public schools.

My husband and I found this out when I was considering adopting an out of state family members' 7 year old child.

We found that we would have to have legal guardianship/adoption papers filed and approved prior to enrolling her the local elementary school as a resident, or pay out of state tuition of $1500 a month (that was 10 years ago and we live in a Virginia suburb of DC). The approval could take weeks to months, and include a home visit and other checks.

We were told by the adoption attorney that it was very important to have things in order, as there are criminal penalties and fines for not following these procedures before enrolling her as a resident.

We wound up finding her biological father and not adopting her. Prior to finding her father, we decided to put off taking custody for two months, after the school year had ended, in order to give us summer break to get all the paperwork in order.

(edited for grammar and to add some relevant details)

[eleny]

7. That'll teach her

:sarcasm:

[Scruffy1]

8. A felony charge no less.

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

Strange country we live in. War criminals retire richer with big book deals poor people go to jail for minor infractions. Banksters wax fat on the misery of the few.

Crapitalism sucks. It creates the framework of systemic inequality in all of our affairs from health care to penology.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch some of my fellow anti-war activist are being subpoened, but not Blair, Bush or Cheney.

[immoderate]

32. Vagrancy 2.0

A middle class person would have gotten the paperwork approved. In any case she might deserve some administrative fine. Criminal charges are kind of harsh.

I taught a lot of years. Rich kids could go to schools out of district, even from suburbs. Saw it all the time.

If they are trying to collect public money, seems tricky to me. Wouldn't their local district have had to pay for them? (Not your problem. :))

And, (not to hijack, but) I fully recognize the evils of capitalism. In short, it demeans workers, depletes resources, and its main product is garbage. And certainly necessities like education, health care, prisons, should not be profit making enterprises. Heck, I'm for socializing just about anything that isn't nailed down. (Worker-owned cooperative contractors?)

OTOH, I can't see the government producing vacuum cleaners. And I don't see how we can ignore individual initiative for the things that solve the problems we face. It will require a mature system. We must go post-consumerist, but there should always be innovation.

I'll get back to you when I have it all figured out. B-)

--imm

[ej510]

9. Us black folks aren't suppose to receive a great education.

[Bluerthanblue]

138. unless they're male, and good at sports- then the rules

are bent or ignored often times.

:shrug:

[Lorien]

10. And yet:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4708975

This Country is fucked beyond belief. :grr:

[Jokinomx]

13. Wow... I thought we had schools of choice?

I know of several schools in Michigan that recruit sports athletes for their teams. The hypocrisy is appalling.

[Gaedel]

36. Way back when

The Detroit City Schools were the best and had the most offerings of any shcools in the state of Michigan, Suburban Moms and Dads used to scrimp and pay tuition to send their little darlings to Detroit city schools instead of the underfunded hick schools out in the counties.

[azurnoir]

14. and yet we see here on DU studies that say

how po' and ignorant begets po' and ignorant (and usually minority) and well what's education supposed to do? can't make a silk purse.........

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Oh my God!

See, if she was rich, she could do like the rich do. They have rentals where an older sibling might live in the school zone. They use that address.

[Tejas]

27. Report them, that is,

if they actually exist.

[The Backlash Cometh]

34. Child graduated.

It really is a tough thing to do to anybody.

[CC]

17. That is f'ed up.

Hope some groups take up her and all the kids cause.



Makes me wonder this though. If she owes the school 30 thousand plus because her kids did not belong there then does the school have to refund the federal govt. for any funds based on head count. Would seem following their weird logic the school would have to pay it back to the feds or face felony theft charges for keeping it. Every school I have ever known will do whatever it can to get every last cent of federal money.

[Still a Democrat]

18. I'd like to hear from the public school teachers on DU n/t

[WinkyDink]

25. Attendance = money. THAT is the crux here. Faking a domicile is state money lost for the "real"

district. It is also why schools are so focused on absenteeism. Again: Attendance = in-coming state money per pupil/ per diem.

My opinion, as a teacher and as a Democrat, is that state tax monies from local districts should be pooled, such that every district gets an equal amount of tax-dollars, NO MATTER whence these dollars.

Yes, as always, the wealthy haves will gripe. But as Mrs. Eliot said when she called her son: "T.S."

[Still a Democrat]

26. So would her children generate as much revenue as those attending and living in the district?

If she moved into the district and sent her kids to that school, wouldn't the financial picture have been the same?

[WinkyDink]

41. School A loses 3 kids = money lost. Period. School B picks up extra money for those 3 kids.

A body at a school desk is all that matters, to the state exchequer.

BUT SHE DIDN'T MOVE, DID SHE? THAT IS WHY SHE IS IN LEGAL HOT WATER. School A is TICKED!

[verges]

109. I'm not sure I'm following your question.

If she's living in the projects of Akron, she undoubtedly cannot move to Copley. Copley is a semi-affluent semi-rural community on the outskirts of Akron. Not much in the way of low income rental housing. There are, however many working class families in Copley. It's pretty much economically and (inspite of what the artical implies) racially diverse. I've been in the high school recently. I've see black, asian, and hispanic kids there. though it is predominately white.

[joshcryer]

121. It is not money lost. The district has a fixed amount of money income from property taxes.

In this case the woman's grandfather paid said property taxes.

[kwassa]

119. and my reply is "don't ask, don't tell"

This happens all the time, with children of all backgrounds, often in cases of separation and divorce, where the parents suddenly live in two different school areas. Also, in cases of homelessness, or family instability, where children are moved between relatives.


Our school system is huge, though, so it involves different "clusters" based on high schools that the other schools feed, too. The value of living in a certain cluster is so great is that it has a big impact on real estate values.

Generally, I never heard of anyone being turned in, though it is common knowledge among the teachers which children are out of our local school boundaries.

[blondeatlast]

19. Ridiculous. IF my district didn't offer school choice, I would have done the same thing and likely

would have gotten away with it--I have the distinct societal advantage of being severely melanin-challenged.

I support Ms. Williams-Bolar.

[Bluerthanblue]

170. I support her as well-

this is so wrong.

[cleanhippie]

20. That is about as much of a "crime" as smoking pot is.

:wtf:

[jeffedgmon]

21. Racism exists EVERYWHERE.

Trust me, just because they say there is no racism in Ohio, doesn't make it so. I personally saw a kid at a playground in Fairlawn, OH wearing a NAZI ring proudly. Yes, that's the same school district, the Fairlawn/Copley school district.

White parents take their kids out of public schools, and put them in private so called "Christian" schools every day of the week, why, because they want their kid to get the best education that they can get. Yet, a black parent does the same thing, and they charge both parents with a crime, one a felony.. Hypocrisy, yeah, I think so.

In other words, you stay in those under funded schools in the inner city where you belong, and be happy about it.

[datasuspect]

22. these black folks are racist for wanting to send their children to a white school

i could imagine a right winger saying that in response; after all, we live in post-racial uhhhmerica where minorities are the only racists now.

[WinkyDink]

24. No, no; it's not that a white parent would go scot-free; it's that ANY parent of a GREAT ATHLETE

would. THEY are the ones fudging domiciles all the time.

[Esurientes]

178. Not sure if you'd call a cheerleader a "great athlete".

I've worked in public schools for nearly 20 years and the only student I've known who got into big trouble for attending out-of-district was a cheerleader. She'd worked hard to get on the varsity squad at a certain school, so when her family moved across the county she used a relative's address to stay at her old school and on the squad.

A jealous classmate's mother called the superintendent's office and reported her. After she was required to transfer to the new school, she didn't make it onto any of the athletic teams. (The new school -- mine -- was a real sports powerhouse back then, with 2500+ students. The one where she excelled at her sport had only 2-300 kids.)

(edited for grammar, syntax, spelling, etc.)

[sinkingfeeling]

28. And how much did Penn Hills School district recover from Rick Santorum? Why didn't he go to jail?

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_274635.html


U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum should reimburse $100,000 to the Penn Hills School District for taxpayer money used since 2001 to cover online charter school tuition for his children, four school board members said Thursday.

http://www.santorumexposed.com/pages/issues/issues-tax.php

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06245/718462-85.stm

[WinkyDink]

42. Because he is Rick Santorum.

[happyslug]

113. Because Penn Hills is in Pennsylvania not Ohio

The laws are different, while it is illegal to register a child in a School district a parent does not live in, it is NOT a criminal offense in Pennsylvania. i.e. the child gets kicked out of school instead of the parents being charged with a crime.

[Frosty1]

33. I forwarded this

to the ACLU in Ohio. Sounds like a good one for them to chew on.

[Starry Messenger]

35. wtf. People do this all the time.

Totally absurd.

[WinkyDink]

43. It isn't any the less illegal. Some get caught; some don't.

[Starry Messenger]

46. I've never heard of the fine though. And the jail. And the probation.

Have you? This is the first I've heard of a penalty so severe.

[WinkyDink]

53. Fines, yes. The rest? Overkill, IMO.

[ehrnst]

80. It is that way where I live - I found this out when I was considering adopting a child. (nt)

[proud2BlibKansan]

139. They fine folks here for this

There have been more than a few cases. No felony and no jail time though.

[joshcryer]

144. I think she refused to pay the fine and then they took it to court.

[Bluerthanblue]

180. one gets prosecuted, the others don't-

did you know that she had taken her kids out of Copley-Fairlawn district 15 months before the indictment was handed down?
http://www.ohio.com/news/112920979.html

This is about spite and prejudice, someone here had an agenda.

[hughee99]

37. It sounds like what she did was basically "school choice".

She opted to send her child to a better performing school district. The difference is that she didn't have the option to legally do this.

[Reader Rabbit]

38. This is obscene.

Politicians do this, FFS! And they're prosecuting a single mom who's going to night school to get her teaching credential?

This makes me so angry I don't even know what to say!

[entanglement]

44. Sad and effed up beyond belief. Judge says the county prosecutor refused to consider misdemeanor

charges even after several closed door sessions. :(

[msanthrope]

56. Fuck the judge--she has the power to knock it down. She probably

just didn't want to face reelection without the DA's imprimatur.

[Dappleganger]

45. This has happened multiple times in our school district.

It is mostly white, very few minorities but from what I know the child must be immediately withdrawn and put in their correct district. AFAIK there hasn't been anyone punished for doing this. I do know people who have lied about it, saying their kids lived with the grandparents when in fact they don't but I never said anything because IMO they pay taxes here and I might do the same thing in their shoes. These aren't lazy people, they work their asses off but houses here aren't cheap.

[midnight]

50. This poor mother needs a miracle... I hope some lawyer steps in and helps her....

[dembotoz]

51. Are the kids good at sports???????

It the kid could throw a football or score from the 3 pt line, no one would have ever said a thing.
happens all the time around here...................

[varkam]

52. I hope that prosecutor is proud for taking this all the way through trial.

No better night's sleep then after an honest day's work, right?

:argh:

[msanthrope]

54. They chose her for 'good' reason.

I say 'good' because prosecutions like this make me want to puke....

1) She's poor/low income. Which means she's (probably) got an overworked public defender. Which means she might not have gotten a very good defense. I'd be interested in knowing if her lawyer asked for a change of venue. Why? See #2.

2) She's not of the socio-economic class, nor the tax base of the jury pool--this probably made it easier to convict her--a) she's 'other' and b) she's 'stealing' from the tax base the jury pool is probably paying into. This would have made it personal for the jury, which should have been the basis of a change of venue motion. (see #1)

3) She altered court documents. This is an absolute fucking no-no. No. Very specific statutes against that.

4) She's a public example. A great one--she was trying to better herself and get a teaching degree, and now, she won't....it's a 'lesson.'

Ah, godamn it. The judge could have given her a misdemeanor sentence...and allowed her to get her teaching degree.

[karynnj]

57. This is not necessarily black and white

I KNOW that my town has charged people from a few nearby towns (with weaker school systems) who used an address that they did not live at. Here, the cases I know of were whites and middle class. Wealthy is unlikely because they would either live in a good neighborhood or (like in a large city) send the kids to private school.

In large cities it sometimes happens that the closest high school or middle school IS near projects. I actually know a Chicago mother who is hoping her daughter succeeds into getting into a magnet school - because the "neighborhood" school has major crime problems. If not, she will put her daughter in private school.

The solution is to improve all schools and make them safe.

[WinkyDink]

58. "The solution is to improve all schools and make them safe." And when will we hear any politician

discuss THIS on a national level?

[MedicalAdmin]

68. When will politicians discuss this on the national level?

As soon as bill gates tell ' em to, that's when.

[WinkyDink]

72. Bwah! Indeed.

[liberalhistorian]

101. Never. It's far easier to blame and demonize

teachers and hold them accountable for factors over which they have NO control, as well as bash "socialized" schools (never mind that the founding fathers, especially John Adams, considered public schools to be a vitally important part of the foundation of the country) and to cozy up to corporations that have no fucking clue what they're talking about in regards to education.

[hakko936]

112. How do you improve the schools.....

.....where she lives? How do you make them safe? The number one factor, in my opinion, of what makes a school system "successful" is not the amount of money per child or how pretty the buildings are. The number one factor is parental involvement and that involvement including making education a priority in the home. You can't expect the kids to care about their education when their parents don't care, their friends don't care, and the entire area they grow up in doesn't care. Sure, a portion of the kids will do well without the parental invovlement, but you can't expect much when no one cares about their education.

Throw all of the money you want at it, but until the people of this country start stressing education in their own home, this is never going to change. You are going to have some areas that perform better than others. Yes, it is often divided along socio-economic lines and even racial lines. You have to ask if that is a function of the school and staff or function of the situation the parents find themselves in and thus transfer it to their kids.

[blueamy66]

78. Who gives a crap?

All kids in the US should get a good education....wherever they live.

This entire thread makes me sick.

[karynnj]

81. That is precisely what I said - it is the only real solution

It does seem fair to point out that ALL districts do work to insure that they are educating only those who live there. This is NOT a new issue. Have you ever read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?

Here the mother did what she did for the good of her kids, but it also broke the law. It will be interesting to see if there will be people, because of these stories, that help her financially Or give the kids scholarships to a local private school - if there are any in the area.

[Nikia]

59. I thought that all of Ohio had open enrollment

My alma mater bragged about having 10% of the student body being open enrollment. As I recall though, it wasn't automatic. You had to apply and be approved. I don't know if many students were rejected. I suppose if there are many applicants, admission might be competitive. I moved out of district in the middle of my junior year, but was told that I didn't have to worry about continuing enrollment.
Before open enrollment, though, we moved to the district when I was in the middle of fifth grade. My sister and I had wanted to continue the year but we were told that tuition was $500 per month. My parents decided that it wasn't worth it.
In this case, I would look at their open enrollment acceptance and see if there is racial discrimination. I am guessing that there probably is.

[delightfulstar]

61. Please tell me why this woman actually deserves to be jailed for this.

This happens a lot with kids whose parents are separated/divorced. They're playing the race card here, and it's wrong.

[mstinamotorcity]

62. No Child Left Behind !!!!!No Child Left Behind!!!!!!!!!

I don't know about Ohio but where I am children can go to schools in or out of District. No Child Left Behind!!!!! They wanted to make an example out of this woman so no one else thinks of crossing the color line.

[minavasht]

63. Why the kids can't choose their schools?

This is something I can't understand - why people have to become criminals to be able to send their kids to good schools.
Why can't kids choose where they want to go and apply there and be accepted if they have good grades?

[WinkyDink]

73. It's called "local control."

It's called "state money per public-school district is based on enrollment numbers, which are based on residency."
It's called "the law."

[Cid_B]

65. This headline to the OP seems racist...

Unless someone wants to make the claim that every child in this school district is a lily white Aryan... If they are I'll gladly retract my statement.

[EFerrari]

102. I checked. Fairlawn and Copley are about 87% white

white, 98% of the population is one race which means not too much intermarriage there.

[Phentex]

115. It was not presented this way on the news this morning...

It was stated as a woman who used another address as her own in order to send her kids to the school.

I thought the same as you when I read the headline here.

[donheld]

66. How very sad

[Tsiyu]

69. This is an outrage

this school system has absolutely zero regard for students, if it will put this family through this sort of nightmare. School systems exist for the benefit of young people, I thought, not to lash out in some wacko adversarial relationship at families.

They should be ashamed, as should whomever determined the sentence.

[madokie]

70. So sad when what all she wanted was better for her children

[WinkyDink]

75. But who doesn't? Someone in Podunk can't just up and send their child to

Scarsdale, NY, SD.
Or from inner-city Chicago to Hinsdale, IL, SD.

[bergie321]

83. The better question is

Why, in America, are some school districts allowed to be so much better off than other school districts?

[defendandprotect]

95. Question is, why are public schools based on "wealth" rather than equal education for all?

This wasn't a PRIVATE school she was sending her children to --

it was a public school.

[joshcryer]

126. Akron actually has higher per pupil costs. It's just that when money comes from the state...

...as opposed to property owners, the state runs how it's spent, and it's not necessarily always spent properly.

[Bluerthanblue]

174. and Ohio's system for funding schools was found to be unconstitutional-

and has not remedied the situation after 4 separate rulings by the state Supreme Court declaring it to be in violation of the constitution.
http://www.schoolfundingmatters.org/content/History.aspx
:shrug:


We've got the same issue here in NH- and we haven't fixed it either.

[Selatius]

182. Public schools are primarily a county or city issue, not necessarily a state or federal issue.

In countries with a more unitary form of government--France is a good example--the standards are uniform across the board no matter the location. What they've achieved, essentially, is economies of scale. By pooling everybody's resources into a single fund, it makes it far easier to spread out resources to make everything roughly equal in terms of quality and delivery of services. This isn't the case if you have multiple pools the size of counties and cities. You can't achieve the same level of uniformity that way; it's not possible and never was with this system even at its best because there will always be poor counties and poor city municipalities.

[joshcryer]

125. Um, she took them to the bus stop every day.

I like how you imply that she shipped them off somewhere distant.

[Dorian Gray]

71. I think that the headline

is misleading, as she actually did tamper with court records.

Having said THAT.......

the punishment is ridiculous. I've known MANY people who have lied and sent their kids to different school districts. None of them were ever discovered. And I'm curious how they discovered this case. (Meaning, I'm curious if they looked into it in the first place because they are black.)

[Esurientes]

181. Maybe this explains how they found out.

The third link at the bottom of the OP mentions that:

"Copley has been working for years to rid the district of every outside student who has not been accepted (they must meet certain academic and behavior standards) and is not paying tuition. I wrote about the crusade back in March of 2008, when I reported that the district was offering $100 rewards to anyone blowing the whistle on an illegal outsider."

ETA: link: http://www.ohio.com/hottopic/114372139.html

[boston bean]

74. There is no school choice in IL?

In MA kids can go to another town for school.

[WinkyDink]

77. States with inTER-district "choice" are in the VAST minority (about 15/50). And inTRA-district is

based primarily on Title I schools and their test scores. However, IF an entire district is declared as "needing improvement," then, under Federal Law, all those students may transfer out of district.
http://www2.ed.gov/parents/schools/choice/choice.html#1

But on a state-by-state basis? Very few. And the reason is $$$. Sending schools must pay tuition to the receiving schools!

[W T F]

82. American Apartheid

[Faryn Balyncd]

84. "Because of the felony conviction, you will not be allowed to get your teaching degree under Ohio...

"Because of the felony conviction, you will not be allowed to get your teaching degree under Ohio law as it stands today," the judge said. "The court's taking into consideration that is also a punishment that you will have to serve."


http://drboycespeaks.blogspot.com/2011/01/mother-jailed-for-sending-kids-to-wrong.html



Judge Cosgrove takes the cake.


:kick:

[onethatcares]

85. Jesus wept

I'm at a loss folks.

[hakko936]

86. Vouchers would end this type of crap.

By the way, of the 100 other families investigated, three families agreed to pay tuition and stay in the school, the others either proved residency or admitted guilt and went back to the district of residency. This lady was the only one that took on the school district.

Now that she has been convicted of a felony, she will no longer be able to work as a teacher's aid or a teacher. She was only 12 hours from her teaching degree.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-mom-jailed-sending-kids-school-district/story?id=12763654

[csziggy]

88. The school district hired a private investigator to do surveillance to make their case

How much did that cost them as opposed to simply educating those two kids? http://www.ohio.com/news/113560759.html

Here, there are people who truck in their kids from neighboring COUNTIES - they bought land there to live since the property taxes were cheaper. But then they are appalled that the schools in those lower taxed counties are not as good as in this one (DUH!), so they bring their kids back to this county for school, driving them over as they go to work. They see nothing wrong with the practice. :wtf:

I don't mind playing the property taxes even though I don't have any kids - I WANT the children who will be the taxpaying adults in a few years getting a better education. If they don't have good educations NOW, it will cost me more in the future for more people on assistance or in prison. But I am pissed that people who have gone out of their way to duck paying for the schools in the place where they live are getting better educations on my taxes, even when they can afford to pay top dollar no matter where they live.

I don't understand the move in this Ohio case to destroy the life of this woman who is just trying to get better futures for her daughters - was there no effort to negotiate a settlement or did they come down hard solely to send a warning to other parents doing the same thing?

[Demstud]

91. Probably just felt like making an example of somebody

That's the only reason I can think of for such excessive effort and punishment.

[csziggy]

111. Yes, and I would bet this poor woman paniced and caused the case to get worse

Another example of the "Kick them while they are down syndrome" that seems to be part of the cruelty in our culture.

[Divine Discontent]

179. that's the part that stuck out in the article to me. they hired a PI to follow them and make a

report on where they really lived. How many thousands did that cost? And it's not like schools turn a blind eye at times when they WANT the kid in their school (if he's a basketball star or such).

So, it stuck out to the school that these kids were in the "wrong" place... sigh... sad.

[Romulox]

89. In the U.S.A., it will ALWAYS be seen as proper to discriminate on the basis of $$$

People see this about mom being black, and there is no question in my mind that race is a motivating factor here.

But let's be clear--the bottom line is that these kids are being discriminated against with an inferior education for being poor. And that remains perfectly legal under every legal doctrine in force in the U.S.A.

[pam4water]

90. That's terrible. K&R

[Shagbark Hickory]

92. Yeah, they don't like that in O-Hiya.

[guruoo]

93. So how is one school's education worth $30k more than the other?

'Williams-Bolar’s father, Edward L. Williams, was charged with a fourth-degree felony of grand theft, in which he and his daughter are charged with defrauding the school system for two years of educational services for their girls. The court determined that sending their children to the wrong school was worth $30,500 in tuition.'

[joshcryer]

146. Because the school charged that much for "out of district" students. They just added up the years.

It's of course absurd, but that's how it works.

[defendandprotect]

94. When we understand that no one from the "white" school would have tried to sneak their kids...

into the "black/project" school -- then we truly understand what is going on

here in America -- and it isn't justice.

In fact, it's the very denial of justice -- and the court itself is criminal in

permitting such harsh punishment to be applied to this family.

Rather, it should have been a case for jury nullification.

[Beacool]

96. Wow, just wow!!

''Because of the felony conviction, you will not be allowed to get your teaching degree under Ohio law as it stands today,'' the judge said. ''The court's taking into consideration that is also a punishment that you will have to serve.''

The judge may have been within the parameters prescribed by the law, but she could have used judicial discretion. Why ruin this woman's future for something that is fairly common everywhere in the country? IMO, the punishment was too harsh.

;(

[Exultant Democracy]

104. this is bullshit if the parents had anytype of joint custody, bullshit anyway ie brown v board

[blackspade]

108. A travesty

The vindictive nature of this ruling is appalling.
The fact that the judge deliberately made the point that denying her a job was part of her punishment is totally shitty.
It is bad enough that they are punishing her both financially and socially for things that white people do ALL THE TIME.

[Blue_Tires]

114. FELONY charges?? Are you shitting me??

The sad irony is how commonplace it is for public schools in upper-class districts to bend the rules when some highly touted basketball/football star from two counties away wanted to play for them... Residency rules get thrown out the window (there are countless incidents of basketball players just moving in with the head coach), and the school is ready to appeal to the Supreme Court if anyone dares to declare him ineligible...

As big as high school sports are in Ohio, the City of Akron is setting a rather interesting precedent...If Williams-Bolar has a halfway decent attorney, her conviction will be overturned unless the state wants to start kicking over a LOT of rocks...

[Phentex]

116. The blog in the first link is gone. Probably because of the racist heading...

nice of you to repeat the racist heading instead of using a title from the other two stories.

[ismnotwasm]

117. Sad

Sad and disgusting. This was common practice (well maybe not common but I knew a few) back in the 'forced' busing days. White people would change their addresses--use grandparents, friends, what have you, so their children didn't have to attend overly 'integrated' schools.

I don't recall jail time for getting 'caught'.

[AsahinaKimi]

118. I hope she can take this to a higher court

This is so sad.

[TheKentuckian]

120. Sounds like some good old jury nullification was in order.

[Pithlet]

184. I know I wouldn't have voted to convict.

It's shameful. Jail isn't the answer.

[McCamy Taylor]

127. I have known white folks who did the same thing.No one ever says a word

when it was white parents lying to keep their kids out of minority school districts.

[Bluerthanblue]

145. sad but true-

this is so wrong. On so many levels.

[crazyjoe]

167. why would she send her kids to a predominantly white school?

[democracy1st]

188. because the school in her district was really bad!

[Rev. Nancy]

171. Shocking turnaround

This is soooo backwards! Those responsible for the de facto segregation should be facing charges. Brown v. Board of Ed. established that segregated education is an unconstitutional violation of civil rights. Instead of prosecuting those who are circumventing the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, a mother has been jailed, subjected to probation (probation violations are the #1 cause of incarcerations) and her education has been rendered a nullity. The wrong person has been prosecuted here! My conclusion is that the judge and prosecutor are in collusion with the schools in a conspiracy to deny these children of their rights and ALL contributory parties need to be prosecuted under federal civil rights legislation!

[Bluerthanblue]

173. Isn't Ohio's school funding still "Unconstitutional"? if the school

isn't abiding by the constitution in the funding for education, and that results in poor vs. wealthy school systems, how can this woman be found guilty of a felony when the state itself isn't honoring the "law"?

http://www.schoolfundingmatters.org/content/History.aspx

[Pryderi]

187. K&R. This story needs to go national!!!

[Liquorice]

190. It is national. I saw it on CNN this evening. nt