Who to the what now?

[Bramble]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theloo...chool-district

Homeless woman wants to send her son to a better school so she enrolls him under a friends address. Now she faces 20 years in prison AND a fine of $15,000.

A quote "There has to be a penalty for stealing our services," school board president Jack Chiaramonte countered in The Daily Norwalk.

Really? May the Gods forbid that someone wish to send their kid to a good school rather than a sh*tty dirt poor horrific excuse for crap school. It's a first degree LARCENY charge for doing this. I've seen horrible sex offenders & child molesters get less time for this. Her friend was also evicted from public housing for letting her use her address. I hate people

[HYHYBT]

Anybody want to take the school's side?

[BlaqueKatt]

it IS larceny, school districts are awarded funds based on enrollment. This is why school choice is such a touchy issue.

district x has 100 students and gets $100 per student due to the property taxes for the district.

District y also has 100 students but due to higher property taxes receives $200 per student.

naturally the parents from district x want their children to go to district y schools but don't want to pay the taxes to go along with it, so they continue to pay district x taxes and steal from the district y students/taxpayers. At the same time district x now has 50 students and less money to educate them, while district y now doesn't have the tax money to educate 150 students.

as far as the friend getting kicked out of public housing, most public housing leases have a stipulation that you will not do something like this or you will lose your housing. Heck my non-public housing lease states that I can't have anyone stay here(or use my address for mail delivery), without them on the lease or I face eviction. And sorry if it seems heartless, but would anyone be in an uproar like this if the woman was say...the wife of a fortune 500 CEO, or is it just "OMG this is horrible" because she has the misfortune of being homeless. In other words, is this "outrage porn"?

Sorry but it's the same as an SC asking for an exception to policy "just for them", and then you end up making enough exceptions(you did it for my friend you have to do it for me too) that the policy is no longer valid.

[Rageaholic]

I think whether you agree with the what she did or not, you have to admit TWENTY YEARS in jail is extreme. Save the prisons for those who actually hurt people, not those who want to get their kid through school.

as far as the friend getting kicked out of public housing, most public housing leases have a stipulation that you will not do something like this or you will lose your housing. Heck my non-public housing lease states that I can't have anyone stay here(or use my address for mail delivery), without them on the lease or I face eviction. And sorry if it seems heartless, but would anyone be in an uproar like this if the woman was say...the wife of a fortune 500 CEO, or is it just "OMG this is horrible" because she has the misfortune of being homeless. In other words, is this "outrage porn"?

Yes, because it's disproportionate retribution. It's not a crime worthy of any jail time yet alone 20 years.

Though I think the fact that she's homeless makes her decision more understanding. It sounds like she got screwed by the system big time. I can't say I condone her decision to lie, but at least I understand why she was doing it. Perhaps if the system would have allowed her better alternatives, it wouldn't have come down to this.

Sorry but it's the same as an SC asking for an exception to policy "just for them", and then you end up making enough exceptions(you did it for my friend you have to do it for me too) that the policy is no longer valid.

If that's an SC, than I have to sympathize with the SC.

[AdminAssistant]

And yet another reason why education shouldn't be funded through property tax. My sister is having a similar battle now. They live within yards of three school district lines. Technically, their house is in Crappy Urban School District. Across the street is Nicer Suburban School District. NSSD runs a bus by their house, Nephew already goes to Pre-K there, has friends there, it's much closer to their house and work, etc. She's pretty close to getting a waiver from CUSD, but the third school district (Slightly Less Crappy Urban School District) that's also nearby is trying to make her send Nephew there and being utter dicks about it. I mean, it's across the freakin' road!! Ugh, it's all so stupid.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, I know that I feel much safer knowing that this menace to life and limb will be off the streets for two decades. Hell, I don't even mind paying for her food and housing out of my pocket, it's just that important to make sure she's not rubbing shoulders with any of these other kids who are attending schools that are...shall we say...out of their districts by a damn sight further than across town.

Well done, I know I'll sleep better tonight.

[Greenday]

I've seen rapists and molesters get far worse. Let's not even try to play that game.

Also, the penalty has a maximum of $15,000 and 20 years in jail. Whoopdeedoo. Nowhere does it say she has been hit with a $15,000 fine or that she's going to jail for 20 years. If she's found guilty, the odds of her actually receiving the maximum penalty are slim to none.

Outrage porn indeed. She probably won't spend a day in jail.

[Andara Bledin]

We need more cases like these. We need a spotlight shown on how badly our school system is managed and administrated.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

We need more cases like these. We need a spotlight shown on how badly our school system is managed and administrated.

^-.-^

So schools producing tons of stupid kids each year doesn't prove anything, but not letting some kid in whose parent(s) don't pay taxes for that kid to go there does? Right...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, to play devil's advocate about the "didn't pay taxes in that district" argument, I could argue that there are plenty of childless people in that school district that DO pay taxes into that school system. I was one of them for decades. If you don't have any kids and are paying taxes, you are, too. So if some kid from a shitty background gets a decent education out of my pocket, well, I can hardly get too worked up over that. I'd rather pay to school him now than pay to incarcerate him later. So either way I'm paying.

I mean, I'm not trying to turn this thread into illegal bashing. In fact, I don't even want to sit here and complain that schools are full of undocumented illegals because that's not my point. My point is, though, that they are. So why is anyone getting worked up over an American citizen fudging some paperwork so her kid can go to school in a decent place? If she's homeless, she can't say she's from ANY district. What is the proper district for a transient? Is she even paying taxes? If she's not paying taxes, then any school district is one she's not paying taxes into. This does not make sense.

I'm just going to come out and say that this zoning thing is crapola. Me and some friends years ago started a grass roots...I dunno what it was...call it a campaign...to help a friend with a special needs kid fight a school district over this very sort of thing. These people lose their damn minds over this stuff.

And yeah, our campaign was successful, fyi.

[Andara Bledin]

So schools producing tons of stupid kids each year doesn't prove anything, but not letting some kid in whose parent(s) don't pay taxes for that kid to go there does? Right...

As you said, there are tons of stupid kids turned out of the schools every year. The number is too big and people just can't grasp what it really means. It's exceeded our monkeysphere limits.

Cases like this, however, are few enough that they make a splash and retain their meaning with the typical news-consuming individual.

^-.-^

[Gravekeeper]

20 years? Holy fark. How did they work that out? I mean yes she did something illegal, but the crime sounds entirely in fine territory. Not prison time. Nevermind a near life sentence. That's insane.

[Andara Bledin]

20 years? Holy fark. How did they work that out? I mean yes she did something illegal, but the crime sounds entirely in fine territory. Not prison time. Nevermind a near life sentence. That's insane.

It's a standard maximum sentence for the type of crime it's categorized as. As Greenday said, however, it's unlikely that she'll actually spent much, if any, time in jail.

^-.-^

[FArchivist]

Yes, because it's disproportionate retribution. It's not a crime worthy of any jail time yet alone 20 years.

Wait, stop, whoa. Not worthy of any jail time according to whom?
The law, which was passed by a legislature and signed by an executive official, was sure thought worthy of that type of jail time.

I can't say I condone her decision to lie, but at least I understand why she was doing it.

I can understand her reasons too. Unfortunately, intent is not magical. Just because she intended good things does not make her act less criminal.

And yet another reason why education shouldn't be funded through property tax.

How would you fund it?

[Nyoibo]

How would you fund it?

Child tax.