Is this oppression?

[Vi-Jay 218]

So many rodents and not enough traps!?

Fri Apr 22, 4:13 pm ET

Homeless woman prosecuted for enrolling son in Conn. school

By Liz Goodwin

Connecticut authorities have filed theft charges against Tanya McDowell, a homeless woman, alleging that she used a false address to enroll her son in a higher-income school district, The Stamford Advocate reports. If she's convicted, McDowell may end up in jail for as many as 20 years and pay a $15,000 fine for the crime.

McDowell is a homeless single mother from Bridgeport who used to work in food services, is now at the center of one of the very few false address cases in the Norwalk, CT, school district that is being handled in criminal court--rather than between the parent and school. Authorities are accusing McDowell of enrolling her 5-year-old son in nearby Norwalk schools by using the address of a friend. (Her friend has also been evicted from public housing for letting McDowell use her address.)

McDowell says she stayed in a Norwalk homeless shelter sometimes--but she didn't register there, which would have made her son eligible to attend the school.

"I had no idea whatsoever that if you enroll your child in another school district, it becomes a crime," the 33-year-old told the paper.

An education advocacy group, Connecticut Parents Union, is holding a fundraiser to help McDowell pay the possible fine.

The case is attracting some national attention in the education world, as it's similar to the headline-making story of Ohio mom Kelley Williams-Bolar, who spent days in jail after using her father's address to send her kids to a better-performing school. Her story ignited a debate about inequalities in the public school system.

"One woman has been evicted, another could go to jail and all because a little boy went to school in a district where he sometimes lives," education writer Joanne Jacobs said of the case. The blog DropOut Nation notes that the Norwalk schools are better than those in Bridgeport, where McDowell's last address was; the case thereby raises larger questions about why poorer families often must send their kids to poorly performing schools, in part because local tax revenues make up so much of school funding.

In Williams-Bolar's case, private investigators hired by Copley-Fairlawn schools in Ohio found her out and turned her over to the courts. In McDowell's case, the false address was uncovered by a public housing attorney dealing with the friend who let her use the address.

"I am surprised that this is the case [Norwalk officials] chose to make an example of," Norwalk attorney Michael Corsello told the Stamford-Advocate.

[Danno 1,228]

I'm calling BS on this.

<<<

McDowell says she stayed in a Norwalk homeless shelter sometimes--but she didn't register there, which would have made her son eligible to attend the school.

>>>

you don't just drift into a homeless shelter and stay without registering time after time.

Truth is she just wanted her kid, for whatever reason.. to go to that school, now that she is caught she is grasping for what excuse she can find.

If she can decide the district her kid goes too... why can't everyone else?

Don't use the lever of emotion to get special privileges.

It is quite common for kids to want to change or attend school districts due to reason other than "education" ... such as sports programs, location to your home / driving route or, to place two friends in the same school.

A reasonable fine and reassignment of kid should be the limit of punishment for first offense.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

My business partner lives in the poor part of Santa Barbara, and the school his daughter would have to be assigned to was full of Hispanic children who didn't have a sufficient knowledge of English to get any meaningful education going. He too pulled some stunt (don't remember exactly what) to get her into the HOPE charter school which has a top notch reputation and record.

That's a direct fallout of our failed educational system: if you don't want your child to be left behind, you have to be creative, often move to an expensive neighborhood or pay for private school.

[Danno 1,228]

My business partner lives in the poor part of Santa Barbara, and the school his daughter would have to be assigned to was full of Hispanic children who didn't have a sufficient knowledge of English to get any meaningful education going. He too pulled some stunt (don't remember exactly what) to get her into the HOPE charter school which has a top notch reputation and record.

That's a direct fallout of our failed educational system: if you don't want your child to be left behind, you have to be creative, often move to an expensive neighborhood or pay for private school.

No matter how perfect a school system, it will never be everything.. to every student, however this is no reason to believe people can break the law to try and make it work for them..... without consequences.

It's certainly not below me to bend the rules (or even more)... but I don't cry when caught.

Anyway, the woman has no one but herself to blame, there is a reason she has no options in her life.

Had she taken advantage of the eduction which was paid for by the tax payers when she was in school, she could better afford to "pick" her kids school system.

While I admire anyone who wants the best for her kids, the truth is, she wants wants not only a free education for her kid... she wants the best that "other peoples money can buy".

Not trying to dog the lady out... just pointing out different angles.

[The Dude 206]

I'm calling BS on this.

<<<

McDowell says she stayed in a Norwalk homeless shelter sometimes--but she didn't register there, which would have made her son eligible to attend the school.

>>>

you don't just drift into a homeless shelter and stay without registering time after time.

Truth is she just wanted her kid, for whatever reason.. to go to that school, now that she is caught she is grasping for what excuse she can find.

If she can decide the district her kid goes too... why can't everyone else?

Don't use the lever of emotion to get special privileges.

It is quite common for kids to want to change or attend school districts due to reason other than "education" ... such as sports programs, location to your home / driving route or, to place two friends in the same school.

A reasonable fine and reassignment of kid should be the limit of punishment for first offense.

Depends on the shelter Danno. There are many that don't require you to register unless you seek certain services from them or outside agencies.

[Danno 1,228]

Depends on the shelter Danno. There are many that don't require you to register unless you seek certain services from them or outside agencies.

Name one so I can check.

[The Dude 206]

Name one so I can check.

No thanks, I enjoy my privacy.

[slim 1,530]

Oppression, justified, racism, etc.? No.

A case of stupid laws? Yes.

If you can register your kids at your "last" address, why not stay in the good neighborhood for a couple days and then claim to be homeless shortly thereafter? If your last address is what counts, make it a good one!

[Danno 1,228]

No thanks, I enjoy my privacy.

Thats the answer I expected.

For security reasons alone, they are not letting people come in and flop down for even a night without giving some info.

Also, these places take in donations )and gov. grants) and have a great interest in record keeping.

If you know of even one that does not require people to fill out a form... name it.

Edited April 25, 2011 by Danno

[The Dude 206]

Thats the answer I expected.

For security reasons alone, they are not letting people come in and flop down for even a night without giving some info.

Also, these places take in donations )and gov. grants) and have a great interest in record keeping.

If you know of even one that does not require people to fill out a form... name it.

Again Danno, I'm not going to do your homework for you. I enjoy my personal privacy. But you feel free to leave your personal details on the internet if you like.

ETA: I wasn't insinuating that is the norm, just that it happens more frequently than you probably think.

Edited April 25, 2011 by The Dude

[Fandango 1,440]

20 years in jail is ludicrous, no matter which side of this debate you fall on.

[Vi-Jay 218]

Update: It's heating up.

Mon Apr 25, 5:25 pm ET

Outrage around homeless mom charged for sending son to better school

Education activists are rallying around a homeless woman who may face jail time for enrolling her son in kindergarten under a friend's address. Supporters say the woman's story is yet another dismaying example of inequality in the U.S. education system.

Tanya McDowell, a homeless single mother from Bridgeport, is charged with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for signing up her 5-year-old son to attend nearby Norwalk schools under the address of a friend. (Her son went to the school for four months. Her friend has been evicted from public housing for letting McDowell use her address.) McDowell may face up to 20 years in prison and a $15,000 fine if convicted.

Gwen Samuel, a Connecticut education activist, is organizing a press conference to try to get the charges dropped and raise awareness about parents who are criminally prosecuted, rather than dealt with individually by the school district, for using false addresses.

She says she expects a few hundred people to show up at Norwalk superior court at 9 a.m. Wednesday, including Kelley Williams-Bolar (pictured), the Akron, Ohio-based mom who made national news in January, when she was jailed for using her father's address to send her kids to a better-performing school. Bolar's story ignited a debate about inequalities in the public education system, where poorer parents must send their kids to poorer schools because much of the funding is on the local level.

"This will continue to happen--this will set a precedent and districts will be like, 'OK I found a new way to get my money back, let's go after them,'" Samuel tells The Lookout.

Boyce Watkins, a Syracuse university professor and activist, tells The Lookout that Williams-Bolar heard about McDowell's case and wanted to support her. "Kelley called me and said, 'I can't believe they're doing this to her, how can I help?'" She's now on her way to Connecticut, and her trip is paid for by Samuel's newly founded non-profit Connecticut Parents Union.

"First it happens to Kelley, then it happens to Tanya--they both happen to be poor black mothers trying to find a way to provide a better life for their children," Watkins said.

Samuel says McDowell "absolutely" sent her son to the Norwalk kindergarten because she knew it was better than the schools in nearby Bridgeport. "If you could see ... where he is now compared to Brookside, you'd see why I chose Norwalk," McDowell told the Daily Norwalk of her son's new school, Thomas Hooker Elementary School in Bridgeport.

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

McDowell, who used to work in food services, told the Stamford Advocate she occasionally stayed in a Norwalk homeless shelter--but she didn't register there, which would have made her son eligible to attend the school. "I had no idea whatsoever that if you enroll your child in another school district, it becomes a crime," the 33-year-old told the paper.

Parents are rarely criminally prosecuted for using false addresses.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Vi-Jay

[slim 1,530]

McDowell, who used to work in food services,

"They have the Big Mac. We have the Big Mc."