Mom Jailed Over School Districting

[Richard]

This is an issue for all parents around the major urban areas here in Texas, too, especially for those who cannot afford to send their children to private schools but believe a good education is the way to a better future for their children in America.

An impoverished black woman broke the law to send her children to a rich white school. Is her punishment justice?

And so it goes...

Richard

Kelley Williams-Bolar: Mom Jailed For Wanting To Give Kids A Better Life
Salon, 25 Jan 2011

In case you have not yet heard about Kelley Willams-Bolar:

AKRON, Ohio – A Summit County woman will spend 10 days in jail after she was found guilty in a school residency case that could set a precedent for Ohio school districts.

Judge Patricia Cosgrove also placed 40-year-old Kelly Williams-Bolar on two years of probation and ordered her to complete 80 hours of community service.

On Saturday, a jury found Williams-Bolar guilty on two counts of tampering with records. She was also facing one count of grand theft, but the judge declared a mistrial on that charge after the jury couldn't reach a verdict.

"I felt that some punishment or deterrent was needed for other individuals who might think to defraud the various school systems," Cosgrove told NewsChannel5 after the sentencing.

Prosecutors said Williams-Bolar lived in Akron, but falsified enrollment papers in the Copley-Fairlawn School District so her two girls could attend schools for two years.

Prosecutors said the lies cost the district about $30,000. Copley-Fairlawn does not have open enrollment and out-of-district tuition is about $800 per month.
There are myriad responses to this case, ranging from the impassioned response of Boyce Watkins to the "fraud is fraud" response by Bob Dyer of the Beacon Journal. Titles all over the Internet have proclaimed "MOTHER IMPRISONED FOR SENDING KIDS TO WRONG SCHOOL!" implying that the only thing wrong was simply enrolling where she shouldn't have. Under the current laws of Ohio, Williams-Bolar committed a crime. This can't be argued. What can be argued is whether the actions by the court are right and appropriate for the defendant's situation.

My initial reaction to this was outrage. I sat at my computer, heart pounding, eyes tearing, because when you peel off all the layers, you have this: a woman (who works with special education children and was attending school for her teaching degree) is being vilified because she wanted something better for her children. And we can't possibly ignore the racial aspect of this situation. A poor BLACK woman on public assistance is being jailed for sending her kids to the rich white school. I'm not arguing whether this is how it should be looked at; I'm saying that is how it is looked at. It's questionable at this point whether the teaching degree she's been working toward will be allowed, because she has a felony charge against her. A family's life is in virtual ruins because of this situation.

And many say she deserves this.

Reading comments from residents of the town she "stole" the education from say that this is fair. They pay a lot of money for that school. Rules are rules. If you don't live there you have to pay $800 in order to attend and she did not do so. In black and white terms (no pun intended) this is true. But is anything black and white? Can we truly look at this situation and call it fair? Are we a country that would put a scarlet letter on this woman because of where she sent her kids to school? She didn't forge $20 bills and buy electronics and diamonds. She didn't pretend to be a victim of 9/11 and try to claim special funds.

She sent her kids to school.

To judge this simply as a case of fraud is to ignore the surrounding circumstances. Some say that, legally speaking, "circumstances" don't matter. But if you murder someone they specifically have to figure out if it was a crime of passion, was it self-defense or was it premeditated. Each crime receives wildly different sentences. The bottom line is that a person is dead. But somehow that's not black and white. They say Williams-Bolar was judged by a jury of her peers. Was she really? Was it a group of poor minorities trying to finally have a chance at the supposed American dream? Were these "peers" people whose families have tried for generations to rise from the injustice and inequalities that they -- literally -- had nothing to do with?

Show me these "peers."

I'm not saying Kelley Williams-Bolar was right. I'm not saying she shouldn't have to pay what she owes to the local government. I'm saying to make an example of a poor mother with a family on her first offense is unconscionable. To think this reasonable is to ignore the reality that we live in and the shades of right and wrong that appear in so many offenses.

By the way, America stole a lot of labor from my people. Are we going to get any of that "owed" money any time soon? No? Didn't think so.

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/20...m=/mwt/feature

[Guy]

Her kids are probably two years AHEAD!....

Stay safe.

[Dusty]

Well, then, let's not get pissed off at the illegal aliens who forge paperwork to get their kids in better schools either. Or car thieves who just want a better mode of transportation. Or anybody else who intentionally breaks the law.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Richard

[COLOR="Lime"]By the way, America stole a lot of labor from my people. Are we going to get any of that "owed" money any time soon? No? Didn't think so.http://www.salon.com/life/feature/20...m=/mwt/feature

lol to the google power-That's the weakest snivel in history. "America" doesn't owe anybody anything for slavery. "Your people"? What, Americans aren't your people? Racist.

[Pete]

Rent a cheap apartment in the school district.

Being outside the district means distance, means getting the kids to school, more hassle on everything plus you lie.

Every school system has "creative" living addresses for some.

I wonder, though, if the school system in question charges tuition for illegals?

[nousdefions]

This is why School Vouchers are a good idea. The parent gets the voucher and decides where their child goes to school. Under performing schools will either shape up or close down.

Cheers!

[Fonzy]

They lost all credibility to their argument when they brought up race.

It seemed to be going somewhere with a valid point until they played the race card. Then I just shut down. I'm tired of hearing it.

[craigepo]

That author, article, and perpetrator lost all credibility as soon as race became an issue.

[Richard]

I think the thesis of the entire OpEd piece worth pondering is to be found in the orange hi-lighted paragraph.

FWIW - I almost edited out the final paragraph before posting because I suspected there would be a tendency on first reading to lose sight of this forest of an issue for that 'lightning magnet' of a tree - an on-going controversy for America dating back to 1619 and the Trier, Treasurer, and White Lion.

And so it goes...

Richard

[Pete]

As long as people keep thinking "My People" they will be forever locked in the past.

But to get back to the original story. Where there is a will there is a way.

There are a number of low wealth people with kids in our private school. But more than a few of them have one of the parents who work a low pay, part time job at the school - discount. Others who joined the church - discount. Little of both - bigger discount.

Around here for public school you either move - or pick a school of choice. Then there is the creative address route. Kinda' like the kids on free lunch getting dropped off from an Escalade.

[Buffalobob]

It is an issue, that is for sure. When my children were in elementary school, slots in their school were so limited that sometimes lines would form for DC residents and there would be overnight campouts. We began to notice people who commute in from Maryland would drop off their kids every morning in front of the school. Finally, the license plates of cars were taken and the addresses run down and the parents charged for out of state tuition. The reverse was true for Maryland as some DC residents would try to game the Montgomery County school system.

Does the punishment fit the crime? Hardly seems so given the range of crimes committed these days.

[Peregrino]

I understand the desire to secure better opportunities for your children. She had legal alternatives available, she chose not to exercise them. She committed fraud. Race is a specious argument. So are the other red herrings about illegal aliens, everybody else does it, etc, etc. Economic disadvantage is not a uniquely black condition.

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by Richard

I think the thesis of the entire OpEd piece worth pondering is to be found in the orange hi-lighted paragraph.

FWIW, I re read the entire article twice...the second and third time focusing on that hi-lighted area.

...to make an example of a poor mother with a family on her first offense is unconscionable...

I have to agree, I don't think the punishment was merited. Pulling her children out of the school is punishment enough, add to that the possible loss of a job qualification, i.e. a teaching certificate, and I think the "example" is well made.

[Sigaba]

It may well be that the third and fourth traditions will be the most difficult to confront.

As for complaints against the "race card" that "they" play, I often wonder: who wrote the rules of the game, made and stacked the deck, built the card table, the chairs, and the game room?

Do people live in the past because "they" won't let go of it? Or do they live in the past because so many of us decide not to remember it?

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Sigaba

It may well be that the third and fourth traditions will be the most difficult to confront.

As for complaints against the "race card" that "they" play, I often wonder: who wrote the rules of the game, made and stacked the deck, built the card table, the chairs, and the game room?

Do people live in the past because "they" won't let go of it? Or do they live in the past because so many of us decide not to remember it?

So, we should expect England to compensate us for her tyranny in the 1700's?