Felony for using false address for ps?

[Aelwydd]

I read this article about a mother who used her father's address to allow her kids to attend a better ps. She was originally charged with two felonies of "grand theft," before the charges were eventually reduced.

 

My emotions ran the gamut from outrage ("They are seriously going to spend tax dollars on imprisoning people for this?!"), to gallows humor, to sad resignation.

 

What stood out to me most was this paragraph:

 

From California to Massachusetts, districts are hiring special investigators to follow children from school to their homes to determine their true residences and decide if they "belong" at high-achieving public schools. School districts in Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey all boasted recently about new address-verification programs designed to pull up their drawbridges and keep "illegal students" from entering their gates.

 

I won't bother pointing out all the class and race warfare inherent in that statement. It's one of those things you either see or you don't.

[seraphina]

That case happened around here. I can understand why she did it. She wanted her children to have a decent chance at a good education. The schools here can vary so wildly between cities. I mean within a three mile radius you can have a school where less than 50% of kids graduate to a district where 99% graduate. It's not a copout but NCLB doesn't help because it financially punishes struggling districts and gives funds to schools that are already successful, that just doesn't make sense. She was desperate, I understand, I know it was wrong but it's also wrong how we are throwing a generation of inner city children away by awful schools.

 

One example here in my district we have an average class size of 25 students, less than a mile away there are classes with 40+ kids, some classes even have 50 kids. I feel so bad for those kids. I know there are no easy answers but I think school choice would help.

[DawnM]

So what would your rules be and how would you enforce them?

[seraphina]

In the case of Ohio our way of funding schools has been declared illegal multiple times but no changes have been made. Here in Ohio, where that case happened, a good start would be to legally fund public schools.

[DawnM]

See, I am not sure about this. If there is school choice will there be bussing to all the various areas to pick up the kids and take them to the school across town?

 

Most of the inner city kids don't have parents with cars. Many cities do not have the best bussing system.

 

I don't think it is as cut and dry as it sounds. There are so many factors to consider.

 

Would you be ok with vouchers if it meant your kid might have to be bussed to the more inner-city school?

 

Maybe if you are saying vouchers to attend private schools, but my guess is that if you get a voucher for $5,000 to a private school that costs $5,000, the school will raise tuition. This has always been a concern re: vouchers.

 

Dawn

 

That case happened around here. I can understand why she did it. She wanted her children to have a decent chance at a good education. The schools here can vary so wildly between cities. I mean within a three mile radius you can have a school where less than 50% of kids graduate to a district where 99% graduate. It's not a copout but NCLB doesn't help because it financially punishes struggling districts and gives funds to schools that are already successful, that just doesn't make sense. She was desperate, I understand, I know it was wrong but it's also wrong how we are throwing a generation of inner city children away by awful schools.

 

One example here in my district we have an average class size of 25 students, less than a mile away there are classes with 40+ kids, some classes even have 50 kids. I feel so bad for those kids. I know there are no easy answers but I think school choice would help.

Edited October 3, 2011 by DawnM

[seraphina]

In Ohio most districts have extensive busing. I live in one of two districts that do not have buses. People here are desperate to get their kids out of bad schools, I think they would be willing to have them bused considering many kids already get bused anyhow. What we are doing now is not working, they need to think outside of the box. They need to do something but sadly in one of Ohio's largest school districts the super is picked by the mayor. So it's all political. Politics need to be removed from the schools. Drastic changes though won't be made anytime soon and another generation of kids will be raised with substandard schools. I am glad I have a choice, I am glad I live in a decent city. But I feel for the kids who are stuck where they are and have no one looking out for them.

[gingersmom]

Wrong is wrong.

 

I would be really upset if some one from a neighboring town was sending their child to our public school (and I don't even send my own kids).

 

Half my taxes go to the schools. If they want to pay the property taxes they are welcome to send their kids.

[snowbeltmom]

In the case of Ohio our way of funding schools has been declared illegal multiple times but no changes have been made. Here in Ohio, where that case happened, a good start would be to legally fund public schools.

 

 

What is even more ironic in this particular case is that the kids' grandfather lived in the district, and his tax dollars were supporting the local schools yet his grandchildren could not attend and his daughter was arrested.

[joannqn]

How do you steal a "free" public education?

 

Here in Washington we have the ability to transfer to another school. My kids are legally public school kids. Every year, I fill out a transfer form rather than a Declaration of Intent to homeschool form. We transfer to a district about 5-6 hours from our home.

 

I don't know how it works when the kids are attending an actual brick and mortar school. I wonder if they are less apt to approve the transfer, or if it is the same. Parents are required to provide the transportation.

[DawnM]

Here you can go to a different school if it is within the district for "free." However, the only schools people are trying to get into are the ones that are capped already because everyone is trying to get in to them.

 

You technically *can* go out of district for a fee. It used to be $1,600 per year. Not sure what it is now.

 

But, again, you won't be getting into the top schools as those are capped. You can't go to a magnet program in another district either, even if you pay.

 

Dawn

 

How do you steal a "free" public education?

 

Here in Washington we have the ability to transfer to another school. My kids are legally public school kids. Every year, I fill out a transfer form rather than a Declaration of Intent to homeschool form. We transfer to a district about 5-6 hours from our home.

 

I don't know how it works when the kids are attending an actual brick and mortar school. I wonder if they are less apt to approve the transfer, or if it is the same. Parents are required to provide the transportation.

[GoVanGogh]

Our neighbors did this for a few years. For them, it wasn't a matter of academics, but convenience. The parents of the children lived in another suburb, but they worked 30 minutes away, in the same suburb the grandparents lived in. The grandparents were the ones free to pick the children up from school and watch until the parents got off work and they didn't want to drive 30 minutes each way. So they lied and said the family lived in another suburb and sent the grandchildren to the school a block from the grandparents' home.

I think with 2-income families, that probably goes on a lot more than anyone realizes.

When DH and I were considering schooling options we looked at private schools near where DH worked and I would likely work, for that very reason. But we were looking at private school, not public.

[seraphina]

As far as I understand here the only way you can transfer to another district is if you ask them and they agree and then you pay an outrageous amount to have your child go to that district. We have a huge problem with kids sneaking into our district because we are next door to Cleveland. A lot of time and money is spent tracking kids. Unfortunately no every child gets the free education the are entitled too, many get substandard ones, it's sad.

[GoVanGogh]

Most of the inner city kids don't have parents with cars. Many cities do not have the best bussing system.

 

That's my huge beef with NCLB legislation. It gives families the option to transfer out of failing schools, but many families do not have the transportation to do so.

[*~Tina~*]

Wrong is wrong.

 

I would be really upset if some one from a neighboring town was sending their child to our public school (and I don't even send my own kids).

 

Half my taxes go to the schools. If they want to pay the property taxes they are welcome to send their kids.

 

Wrong is the discrepancy in the quality of education from one public school to the next. Parents shouldn't have to lie in effort to get their child a decent education. The inequality and unlevel playing field in public education is downright sickening. A federal offense...that's what the government should be charged with...gah!! Disgusting :glare:

[Lovin Learnin]

Wrong is the discrepancy in the quality of education from one public school to the next. Parents shouldn't have to lie in effort to get their child a decent education. The inequality and unlevel playing field in public education is downright sickening. A federal offense...that's what the government should be charged with...gah!! Disgusting :glare:

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Lucy the Valiant]

Wow, where I live it's (A) the town's only school or (B) private school or © home school. No other (legal) options, period.

 

And 86% of my property taxes go directly to the town schools.

 

I can understand the mother's desperation - the unfortunate fact is that there is no such thing as a "free" education for anyone. I don't think it should be a felony, though (but I readily admit to not understanding all the ins and outs and legal ramifications).

[DawnM]

But the question is, how would you fix it?

 

Here, the schools get the same money per kid as any other school.

 

The difference? Involved parents who donate money, time, fundraisers, etc...so that the school can better itself.

 

When my kids did go to school we were asked to donate $300 per family to the school at the beginning of the school year. We were involved in 3 fundraisers before Christmas. The school held a raffle for very expensive gift baskets and received thousands. The school had a fair on campus and received thousands and thousands of dollars.

 

How did our local school get the top test scores in the area? NOT by receiving more federal funding.

 

There is no easy way to make the playing field equal.

 

Dawn

 

Wrong is the discrepancy in the quality of education from one public school to the next. Parents shouldn't have to lie in effort to get their child a decent education. The inequality and unlevel playing field in public education is downright sickening. A federal offense...that's what the government should be charged with...gah!! Disgusting :glare:

[wapiti]

But the question is, how would you fix it?

Hmmm... in our state any student can open-enroll at any school in the state that has available space, with the local district residents getting first dibs. In fact, some of my kids are now at a charter, and if we wanted to switch back to the regular neighborhood school we'd have to apply through open-enrollment, taking a chance that they may or may not have the space, which varies quite a bit from year to year.

 

ETA: for the most part, I'd guess that the driving distances here, which might be greater than distances back east, prevent mass school-switching, plus the setting of limits on enrollment at individual schools.

Edited March 26, 2015 by wapiti

[mommaduck]

I don't blame a lot of families. There is only one school in this area I would consider for my kids that is public. I can't afford to live in its district (and they keep redrawing lines so more and more of their kids go to city schools...something every parent in that district was holding their breath and praying that their kid didn't get "eliminated" last year due to). I won't lie to get my kids into that district. There is no way in hades my kids will go to the schools they would be slated for. My husband recently did some work for the district and it's HORRIBLE.

[DawnM]

But that doesn't fix the problem.

 

Top schools will always be filled to capacity and not allow more in and distances with little option for transportation will still not allow real choice.

 

Dawn

 

Hmmm... here in CO, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that any student can open-enroll at any school in the state that has available space, with the local district residents getting first dibs. In fact, some of my kids are now at a charter, and if we wanted to switch back to the regular neighborhood school we'd have to apply through open-enrollment, taking a chance that they may or may not have the space, which varies quite a bit from year to year.

 

ETA: for the most part, I'd guess that the driving distances here, which might be greater than distances back east, prevent mass school-switching, plus the setting of limits on enrollment at individual schools.

[gingersmom]

What is even more ironic in this particular case is that the kids' grandfather lived in the district, and his tax dollars were supporting the local schools yet his grandchildren could not attend and his daughter was arrested.

 

The grandfather lives there not the grandkids. If he is not happy with his tax dollars supporting the local school then he should move.

 

What about his cousins kids twice removed? They must be remotely related. Should they be allowed to attend the school also?

[kewb]

She broke the law. Whether or not I agree with the law is irrelevant.

 

She made a choice. She knew she was breaking the law and she was hoping she would not get caught. I understand why she made the decision that she made but it does not change the fact that she broke the law.

[DawnM]

It sounds like I am being argumentative. I am not trying to. I would truly like to see a workable solution to the problem. I haven't seen one yet that would really work.

 

I have listened to Michelle Rhee, who I believe could make a real difference to our public school system IF Americans are willing to work with the changes necessary.

 

http://www.studentsfirst.org/

 

This is a subject I feel passionate about. I worked for over 16 years in very inner city middle and high schools. The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness over actual and real choice is there. You can't avoid it.

 

Blanket statements like, "Well, just offer choice" or "Well, just get better teachers" or "Just throw more money at them" are NOT solutions in and of themselves. There is so much more involved. It is also not enough to give one example of one school in Washington D.C. and say, "well, if they can do it, so can everyone else." Many times those schools pick the brightest of the brightest who are willing to take the bus for 2 hours each way to get to said Charter program. Where does that leave a B- student who is just scraping by because he goes home and has to care for siblings, work at his father's bodega, or whatever????

 

There are so very many issues involved. In LA, busses can bus up to the "white schools" as they were called. Problem? Everyone labeled them as "the bus kids" and they couldn't participate in sports after school because the busses only traveled at school closing.

 

I hate that people don't have equal access to education. I just haven't found a real workable solution.

 

Dawn

[KristinaBreece]

It sounds like I am being argumentative. I am not trying to. I would truly like to see a workable solution to the problem. I haven't seen one yet that would really work.

 

I have listened to Michelle Rhee, who I believe could make a real difference to our public school system IF Americans are willing to work with the changes necessary.

 

http://www.studentsfirst.org/

 

This is a subject I feel passionate about. I worked for over 16 years in very inner city middle and high schools. The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness over actual and real choice is there. You can't avoid it.

 

Blanket statements like, "Well, just offer choice" or "Well, just get better teachers" or "Just throw more money at them" are NOT solutions in and of themselves. There is so much more involved. It is also not enough to give one example of one school in Washington D.C. and say, "well, if they can do it, so can everyone else." Many times those schools pick the brightest of the brightest who are willing to take the bus for 2 hours each way to get to said Charter program. Where does that leave a B- student who is just scraping by because he goes home and has to care for siblings, work at his father's bodega, or whatever????

 

There are so very many issues involved. In LA, busses can bus up to the "white schools" as they were called. Problem? Everyone labeled them as "the bus kids" and they couldn't participate in sports after school because the busses only traveled at school closing.

 

I hate that people don't have equal access to education. I just haven't found a real workable solution.

 

Dawn

 

I could *hear* the real desire for a solution in your previous posts.

 

I tend not to say too much on this topic, because I don't have an answer. I know it's broken, but not how to fix it, beyond ensuring that my kiddos get the best education they can get. (And, in the district we're in... that means getting it at home.)

[wapiti]

But that doesn't fix the problem.

 

Top schools will always be filled to capacity and not allow more in and distances with little option for transportation will still not allow real choice.

 

Dawn

 

It doesn't fix the problem, but it might help a very motivated parent. I can't say for certain, but I believe the top schools (high schools) do take some open-enrollment applicants, but there is probably a waiting list. At the elementary school level, that's more likely to be the case for areas where the "good" elementary school is located near "bad" ones. But if a person were able to drive 20-30 min, they could probably find a "better" school, though it may take a bit of research and of course the driving.

 

What I think you're getting at goes more to the heart of public school problems. Disparities of funding are not all there is to it.

[mom2scouts]

I live in this area and there is much, much more to this story than just a poor mother who wanted a better education for her children. Both she and her father were getting all kinds of government assistance that they weren't entitled to get. The school situation is just one of the many ways this family was defrauding the system. As someone said, schools are supported by property taxes and she wasn't paying in that district. There were other families caught with their children going to this school despite not living in the district and they didn't go to jail. They were all allowed to repay the school district for tuition and this one mother refused to pay and felt that she was entitled to break the law. She also lied to the judge on several occasions, including telling him that she was close to becoming a teacher. She did work in the school district where she did NOT send her children, but she was not at all close to being a teacher. Very few people in this area who have read the whole story in the local papers are supportive of this woman.

[SKL]

The government has proven that it cannot do education right. When I see these situations where there's simply no institutional solution, I throw up my hands and say, "just disband the public schools and give us our tax money back." Illogical, maybe, but so is every other idealistic suggestion I've seen.

 

My brother's kid goes to the very school that this woman thought her kids were too good for. The district stinks. But the real issue as I read it was not academics, but safety.

 

The real issue is not that there is not enough money spent on educating kids in those districts, but that there are not enough families who have the right attitude about education and self-respect.

 

When someone argues that her illegal act was "her only reasonable choice," I say: what if everyone did that? What would be the quality of the Fairlawn schools if all the frustrated kids in the Akron school district crowded into their schools? Obviously Fairlawn schools would then suck just as badly.

 

As for the grandfather living there - I heard he was living in a halfway house - I saw no indication that he was a taxpayer.

 

A while back, they tried to make this about racism. Rest assured that there are plenty of people of color in Fairlawn.

 

This is a story of a mom who is probably not a taxpayer herself (I think she was on the public dole), teaching her children to lie in order to get something that no other children are entitled to. And she has the gall to argue that she doesn't want her children to have to deal with the lowly slobs who attend Akron public schools. She should serve extra time for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

 

And yes, Ohio needs to get its act together. But no matter where you live, there will always be some families that just don't care about education, and some social ills that academic funding cannot address.

[mom2scouts]

What is even more ironic in this particular case is that the kids' grandfather lived in the district, and his tax dollars were supporting the local schools yet his grandchildren could not attend and his daughter was arrested.

 

The mother could have let the children live with the grandfather, but she needed them to get all of her government aid. Not only that, but the grandfather probably wasn't paying too many tax dollars to the school because he was arrested for extensive welfare fraud.

[mom2scouts]

How do you steal a "free" public education?

 

 

It's not "free" with the way it's funded. In Ohio, schools are supported by local property taxes and residents within a district can vote to give their schools more money. If you live in an area with low property taxes, you may have poor schools. The best school districts often have very high property tax bills.

[snowbeltmom]

The mother could have let the children live with the grandfather, but she needed them to get all of her government aid. Not only that, but the grandfather probably wasn't paying too many tax dollars to the school because he was arrested for extensive welfare fraud.

YIKES! I didn't see any of that information in the article I read. (I also did not read all of the subsequent articles in my local paper so more than likely it was mentioned in my paper.)

 

I think it has been at least a decade since the Ohio Supreme Court ruling. I am doubtful that things will ever change.

 

I read something in the paper this week about some proposal that the public schools will have to give a family money if a family in their district wants to use a private school. I doubt if that proposal will implemented. The schools are cutting services while our property taxes keep increasing. How would they ever pay for families to use the private schools?

[QueenCat]

How do you steal a "free" public education?

 

 

Not all school districts put the same amount of money in to their schools. Schools normally get federal, state and local dollars. Local dollars can make a huge difference in the amount spent per student. Where we used to live, the county next to us had worse schools. People who lived close to the border would use friends/families addresses to send their kids to schools in our county. The system did crack down, took about 100 families to court and won damages from them.

[Parrothead]

The government has proven that it cannot do education right. When I see these situations where there's simply no institutional solution, I throw up my hands and say, "just disband the public schools and give us our tax money back." Illogical, maybe, but so is every other idealistic suggestion I've seen.

 

 

I often wonder if education was privatized if we would get a better product for the money. We could have everything from the mega school to the small almost homeschool style school where a teacher with a credential could accept 3-4 students into her home or small studio for lessons. Cottage schools?

 

Of course there would have to be checks. Something as simple as CCTV or something more elaborate, but I think it could be done and done better than what we are seeing now in PS.

 

Busses would run more like mass transit than limo service.

[Parker Martin]

Private schools do it for less than public schools. The problem with public schools is not lack of money. It's gross mismanagement.

 

I'd give everyone vouchers. You pick where your kids go. This would open up huge market opportunities for additional private schools in underserved areas. No, there may not be better options in walkable distance the moment that people start getting vouchers, but there soon would be with the market opened up in this way. Plus, even the bad schools would improve a little as some students left, leaving smaller class sizes and creating some incentive for improvement.

 

The way it is now is criminal. Just about anything would be better.

[seraphina]

But private schools can be selective as to who they admit. They don't have to accept kids will multiple disabilities or kids who don't speak a word of english. You can't compare the cost because they don't offer equal services.

[seraphina]

Mine rarely does. Kids actually get sent here because our services are so good. Our district is lucky though because we don't offer busing so our cost per pupil is automatically lower than every other surrounding district. The point is private schools don't have to offer special education services. They can be selective in enrollment. Public schools don't have that same luxury.

[Parker Martin]

Students with multiple disabilities make up a tiny percentage of total enrollment:

 

http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=64

 

They do not account for the fact that private schools cost, on average, slightly less than half what public schools do.

 

http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-025.html

 

As for ESL, that's normal in private schools here.

[Parker Martin]

Plus, you can add to the voucher for special needs students to solve the problem. If you give private schools what you pay for these students in public schools, they'll be happy to take them.

[EmilyK]

I think a felony arrest is overkill. And I don't feel as strongly about the issue now that my kids aren't in public school.

 

But when my kids were in K and 1, there were about 32 kids in the class, and 6 to 8 or so had parents who signed up using a false address. THe class felt very crowded. This was not a posh school -- it was a Title I, urban school but it did have free, full-day kindergarten (not all did) and it had a cadre of involved, well-educated parents. Not sure which was the motivation to lie. I just couldn't believe that parents would feel comfortable going to these lengths (as I remember, you had to show 2 utility bills, so there was some effort involved) and the school personnel said nothing even though it was something of an open secret that certain families didn't live nearby. I was always curious how they pulled it off -- did they actually take over the utilities at a friend's house, or did the school just waive the documentation.

 

Our district did allow transfers but they are becoming less available since the schools are more crowded.

[seraphina]

You are failing to understand that private schools can be selective public schools must educate everyone that walks through the door and in order to maintain federal funding under NCLB they must have those students passing standardized tests. Once again something private schools do not have to do.

 

We can't expect the same results out of public and private schools because we are comparing apples to oranges. Honestly I won't send my kids to the private school here because I won't spend the money to have my kids receive a lesser quality education which is what the quality of our local private schools are. Yes there are good private schools but not all are better than public. There are good public schools.

[EmilyK]

I really like Michelle Rhee. Have you read The Bee Eater?

 

It sounds like I am being argumentative. I am not trying to. I would truly like to see a workable solution to the problem. I haven't seen one yet that would really work.

 

I have listened to Michelle Rhee, who I believe could make a real difference to our public school system IF Americans are willing to work with the changes necessary.

 

http://www.studentsfirst.org/

 

This is a subject I feel passionate about. I worked for over 16 years in very inner city middle and high schools. The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness over actual and real choice is there. You can't avoid it.

 

Blanket statements like, "Well, just offer choice" or "Well, just get better teachers" or "Just throw more money at them" are NOT solutions in and of themselves. There is so much more involved. It is also not enough to give one example of one school in Washington D.C. and say, "well, if they can do it, so can everyone else." Many times those schools pick the brightest of the brightest who are willing to take the bus for 2 hours each way to get to said Charter program. Where does that leave a B- student who is just scraping by because he goes home and has to care for siblings, work at his father's bodega, or whatever????

 

There are so very many issues involved. In LA, busses can bus up to the "white schools" as they were called. Problem? Everyone labeled them as "the bus kids" and they couldn't participate in sports after school because the busses only traveled at school closing.

 

I hate that people don't have equal access to education. I just haven't found a real workable solution.

 

Dawn

[SKL]

But private schools can be selective as to who they admit. They don't have to accept kids will multiple disabilities or kids who don't speak a word of english. You can't compare the cost because they don't offer equal services.

 

This is an argument I've heard a lot, but in my experience/observation, private schools often welcome kids with diverse backgrounds and needs, and serve them better than public schools. I am sure there are exceptions (in PS too, by the way), but a blanket statement is unfair IMO.

[littlebug42]

It's not "free" with the way it's funded. In Ohio, schools are supported by local property taxes and residents within a district can vote to give their schools more money. If you live in an area with low property taxes, you may have poor schools. The best school districts often have very high property tax bills.

 

I am in Ohio in an inner city district. Our district passed a higher tax levy a few years ago and is now getting even less money than before because property values are plummeting in part due to the terrible schools. Most of the elementary children in our district already qualify for vouchers because they cannot lift the schools out of academic emergency status.

 

On the felony arrest, I believe I also read that the woman in question was given other options before it progressed to felony charges but she chose to continue on and not take the easier options. I will look this evening to find the article I read that states that.

[SKL]

You are failing to understand that private schools can be selective public schools must educate everyone that walks through the door and in order to maintain federal funding under NCLB they must have those students passing standardized tests. Once again something private schools do not have to do.

 

We can't expect the same results out of public and private schools because we are comparing apples to oranges. Honestly I won't send my kids to the private school here because I won't spend the money to have my kids receive a lesser quality education which is what the quality of our local private schools are. Yes there are good private schools but not all are better than public. There are good public schools.

 

The argument that it's OK for public schools to be given half of our tax dollars and still fail to serve the vast majority of kids, because they theoretically serve a few special needs kids, is not convincing to me. Maybe parents of special needs kids should be given significant subsidies to help send them to a private school that meets their needs. It would motivate private schools to be as inclusive as possible, while still creating cost savings overall, AND giving most kids a better chance to be well-educated.

 

I would also say that as the parent of an exceptional child who happens to be on the other end of the spectrum (gifted), I do not agree that the public schools serve everyone. They won't even return my phone messages. When my kid enters KG and her brain explodes from boredom, what is the PS going to do for her? Probably nothing.

[seraphina]

It depends on the district. When we bought our home we looked for a district with a self-contained gifted program so that our son would get a quality education. And we found one.

 

The system is not perfect but what I am saying is that how it is designed it cannot serve as well as it should. It needs to be changed but until that happens we cannot expect it to be private school. There are excellent public schools, I know for a fact there are and there are horrible public schools, that I also know for a fact.

 

Sorry I am just trying to defend them and getting attacked because I dare to question the broad statements that private schools are better than public when that isn't always the case. And that they are different types of institutions. I firmly believe that changes need to be made to the school system because too many kids have no choice but to attend them. I am just trying to bring some reality to the situation. Sorry I won't say all public schools are bad and that private schools are always better because that is not a fact.

[GoVanGogh]

You are failing to understand that private schools can be selective public schools must educate everyone that walks through the door and in order to maintain federal funding under NCLB they must have those students passing standardized tests.

Public schools here are certainly selective about their enrollment. In our local homeschool group, we consistently have new members who say their children were "pushed out" of the public school system, with the typical ages of their children being the years that NCLB applies.

[SKL]

Sorry I won't say all public schools are bad and that private schools are always better because that is not a fact.

 

I agree with this. But the stucture that skims the first several thousand (or tens/hundreds of thousands) of dollars off each of our paychecks, and gives it to whoever runs the government education departments, is hopelessly flawed. If that taints some schools and some teachers that are actually great, I'm sorry about that. Those great public schools and teachers would be even better under a system that made sense. The fact that there are a few wildflowers growing in a garbage dump doesn't change the fact that a dump is a dump.

 

I'm glad you live in a district that has great public schools.

[unsinkable]

I agree with this. But the stucture that skims the first several thousand (or tens/hundreds of thousands) of dollars off each of our paychecks, and gives it to whoever runs the government education departments, is hopelessly flawed. If that taints some schools and some teachers that are actually great, I'm sorry about that. Those great public schools and teachers would be even better under a system that made sense. The fact that there are a few wildflowers growing in a garbage dump doesn't change the fact that a dump is a dump.

 

I'm glad you live in a district that has great public schools.

 

Amen to the bolded.

[gardenmom5]

frankly - I pay alot in school property taxes, why should i support families who don't live in this district, and certainly don't pay taxes in this district? we don't just have families coming from outside the district, we have families within the district fraudulently stating they live within a particular schools attendence area to go to that particular school.

 

I just started evaluation meetings for my son - I had to provide proof of residency because those tests the district is offering cost money. Money that is alloted by homeowners taxes and how many children actually live within a district. when someone comes in and cheats the school by saying their child lives in a school district, they are cheating EVERY student who actually lives in that district by forcing the resources to be spread even thinner.

[kalanamak]

 

On the felony arrest, I believe I also read that the woman in question was given other options before it progressed to felony charges but she chose to continue on and not take the easier options. I will look this evening to find the article I read that states that.

 

I think this was the woman who was a huge pain the patoot and hacked off enough people they put the law on her. In mental health we talk about "difficult" families (in our case, often in denial or with unreasonable expectations that make them very angry at us or at their sick family member). After absolutely everyone is sick of them, someone might then say "Okay, they have smuggled contraband [tobacco] on the ward one too many times, can we ban them?" If you are unreasonable, those who suffer might start picking through the letter of the law to free themselves of you.

 

It is just human nature.

[Aubrey]

Wrong is wrong.

 

I would be really upset if some one from a neighboring town was sending their child to our public school (and I don't even send my own kids).

 

Half my taxes go to the schools. If they want to pay the property taxes they are welcome to send their kids.

 

What? That statement makes the very idea of public school a farce. The WHOLE IDEA behind it is that society AS A WHOLE is better off when people are educated. All people. Esp the ones who wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise.

 

The *idea* is that ps's should be EQUAL. What you're describing is PRIVATE school, in which individuals pay for schools themselves. Those tax dollars are. not. yours. They belong to the schools, to be distributed appropriately. (Not that that's what happens, but ideally & theoretically.) The benefit YOU receive from it is living in a first-world country rather than a criminal-run 3rd world country.