Doin' It For The Kids: Ohio Woman's School Scam Nets Her Felony Time

So a woman in Akron lied about where she lived to get her kids into a better school district. The district found out about it and took her to court. They determined that she defrauded the school out of more than $30,000 and sent her to jail for 10 days, in addition to having to repay the school district.

A. This whole situation makes no sense to me, because my school district participated in Michigan's Schools of Choice program. Students from other cities (and counties) were allowed to attend schools in my district or any other participating district. The idea that someone could be precluded from attending School District X because their parents don't live in City X is completely foreign to me.

B. It seems like the judge made this woman an example. Sure, they want to deter other people from doing similar things, but really how common are these occurrences? It's unfortunate, because she was in school to be a teacher and a felony record certainly won't help her find work in that field. But fraud is fraud.

C. Was the amount that she did pay in taxes to the Akron public schools taken into account? I understand that she swindled the other school district out of $30,000 - but when they determined how much she owed, did they factor in how much she paid to Akron public schools?

D. This speaks volumes about the disparities in the American education system. If Akron public schools are so bad and another district's schools so good that it's a felony to move your kids between them, how can we expect Akron students to perform at the same levels as at competing districts? And if we don't hold all school districts to the same standards, what does that say about the balance of the playing fields in the "land of opportunity"?

Bottom Line: It's unfortunate that this woman committed a felony to give her kids better opportunities, but that's what happened, by the letter of the law. I think this situation speaks much more to the inequalities in public education than anything else - a woman went to jail for sending her kids to a better school.