An Ohio mother's attempt to provide her daughters with a better education has landed her behind bars.
Kelley Williams-Bolar was convicted of lying about her residency to get her daughters into a better school district.
I'm of two minds about this. I don't condone lying, but I can't fault a parent for trying to "do right" by her kids by getting them the best taxpayer-funded education she could.
7 comments:
I'm with the district on this one, after years of dealing with out of district students who tend to be a population that is a source of disciplinary problems out of proportion to their numbers.
besides -- if you are going to approve of this, how can you then object to illegal aliens sneaking across the border to get a better life for their kids in violation of our laws? The principle is identical.
With "Right" on this one. One blog likened this chick to Rosa Parks. At least Parks PAID FOR HER TICKET. Arg. :P
Oh come on. Happy Elf Mom, you seem so eager to hang this woman that you can't be bothered to admit that the address used was that of their children's grandfather who does live in-district.
Besides, the point is to get kids educated and the facts of life of politics means a lousy school can be a lousy school, essentially forever.
The problem for this particular mommy is that in order to do right by her children she has to break the law that's created this artificial and valueless construct, the school district.
While adherence to the law is critical to the nation the law should have some basis in reality. A school district serves no valid educational purpose and in many districts that lack results in schools that neither educate kids nor keep them safe.
Under those conditions asking parents to obey the law is asking too much.
I'd like to know specifically what the problem was with the school the girl was going to that made the mom want to get her into another school. All that is stated is "a better education". What does that mean?
It's been my experience that parents usually move their kids to another school because of "social" type issues rather than academic reasons.
Their child has taken up with a bad group of kids, the child has gotten in trouble so much they are on the edge of being expelled, or they are being bullied and harrassed.
The district I worked for had basically a revolving door policy. Any student, any where in the city could attend any high school they wanted for any reason. Now, in giving this "choice" to parents and students created a hardship for teachers, as students came and went through out the year like comets in the sky.
But the funds that she pays are going to the school district in which she resides. The district the kids are attending is providing a service for a student that has not paid into that system. As Rhymes stated, it is the exact same situation as our Illegal Immigrant issue. I don't quite agree that she should go to jail, but she should be fined, and the students must return to their district of residence.
I agree that what she did is wrong and if the local law says she goes to jail, so be it.
What I don't understand is why the woman didn't arrange with her dad to have the kids stay with him during the school week. If their place of residence is in district, Grandfather's house, then they have the legal right to use the school.
I don't know how it is in Ohio, but in California, the sOURCE of the funds is irrelevant, as all funding goes into the state coffers, and then is doled out to districts on a per student basis. So . . .by transferring illegally, she would be taking her district's money, and giving it to the new district. Which is unmitigatedly wrong, especially since it lessens the funds available for the students who can't cheat, thereby making the original problem worse.
In addition, except in the most extreme of conditions, the quality of education is determined mostly by the attitude of the student and the parent, not the school or the teacher. Put a lazy student with absent parents in a good school with a good teacher, and she won't learn. A dedicated student with caring parents in a bad school will at least get a decent education. What makes a bad school bad? In my experience, not the teachers -- it's the students and their parents. And, I've taught in both extremes. I was the constant . . .but when you compare a 90%+ passing rate in my AP Econ classes at the 'good school' with the Algebra class in the 'bad' school where I gave 13 Ds and 13 Fs . . .well, you connect the dots.
Allen, I agree with you about the artificial construct, but we should do something about it rather than subvert it -- and I didn't have you figured for an 'ends justifies the means' guy.
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