Boundary Cheaters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:License plate numbers are not enough. You need names and addresses. If you just have license plate numbers, then you don't have evidence if cheating.

License plates are not conclusive evidence but they are a start. If a child arrives or is picked up in a car with MD plates, it should lead to closer inquiry from the school. If it's a caregiver or a divorced spouse, fine (provided it can be shown that the child legally resides in DC). If it's someone cheating the system, then it should be dealt with quickly and harshly.

[Anonymous]

Dream on. DCPS puts few resources into enforcement. They're still in the-more-the-merrier-for-the-bucks mode.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if this could be a successful Qui Tam case? I think it could be. The only problem may be that the cheaters don't have a lot of money (if they are low income PG families mostly, as is assumed on DCUM), so the recovery could be small unless you get into messy stuff like wage garnishing. The damages are easy to prove, however, because DC does charge a fee for out of state, so it's easy to arrive at a quantum of damages per student/year of cheating. If anyone out there knows any qui tam lawyers maybe worth asking...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if this could be a successful Qui Tam case? I think it could be. The only problem may be that the cheaters don't have a lot of money (if they are low income PG families mostly, as is assumed on DCUM), so the recovery could be small unless you get into messy stuff like wage garnishing. The damages are easy to prove, however, because DC does charge a fee for out of state, so it's easy to arrive at a quantum of damages per student/year of cheating. If anyone out there knows any qui tam lawyers maybe worth asking...

BTW, I suggest this because qui tam is normally the way to go if citizens feel that the govt is not doing enough to enforce anti-fraud in the receipt of government resources. The classic qui tam cases are health care fraud but I don't see why not school fraud also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if this could be a successful Qui Tam case? I think it could be. The only problem may be that the cheaters don't have a lot of money (if they are low income PG families mostly, as is assumed on DCUM), so the recovery could be small unless you get into messy stuff like wage garnishing. The damages are easy to prove, however, because DC does charge a fee for out of state, so it's easy to arrive at a quantum of damages per student/year of cheating. If anyone out there knows any qui tam lawyers maybe worth asking...

BTW, I suggest this because qui tam is normally the way to go if citizens feel that the govt is not doing enough to enforce anti-fraud in the receipt of government resources. The classic qui tam cases are health care fraud but I don't see why not school fraud also.

Some of the cheaters may be low income families but a number have been DC government employees who do not live in DC yet who finagle access to a decent school closer to their workplace than to home and very affordable before and after school care.

[Anonymous]

The problem is, that it's just not that easy. I personally know and have known a couple of cheaters in DC, and hey take different forms.

One friend was renting out house IB and living in VA but commuting in every day, blatant cheating. But, the dad moved back into the house a few months ago, although me think the kids spend the bulk of their time at moms in VA. Is this technically cheating?

Then you have the grandma/grandpa addresses. They drop baby off at 7am on their way to work, and pick her up pretty late at night, after dinner. Is that cheating, or is she basically "living at grandma and grandpas"?

I think the fact that they've asked all PS3 programs to do home visits this year is a big part of combatting this. And I think home visits are not only good for parent-teacher relations, it'll weed out a number of people who just don't have the balls to train their kids to lie about where they sleep.

[Anonymous]

Some of the individual schools don't give a flip -- for example, Francis-Stevens used to be full of Maryland plates, but maybe that's changed under the new leadership. If you can't count on the school's employees to turn in the cheaters, you might as well give up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is, that it's just not that easy. I personally know and have known a couple of cheaters in DC, and hey take different forms.

One friend was renting out house IB and living in VA but commuting in every day, blatant cheating. But, the dad moved back into the house a few months ago, although me think the kids spend the bulk of their time at moms in VA. Is this technically cheating?

Then you have the grandma/grandpa addresses. They drop baby off at 7am on their way to work, and pick her up pretty late at night, after dinner. Is that cheating, or is she basically "living at grandma and grandpas"?

I think the fact that they've asked all PS3 programs to do home visits this year is a big part of combatting this. And I think home visits are not only good for parent-teacher relations, it'll weed out a number of people who just don't have the balls to train their kids to lie about where they sleep.

The first example depends on whether the children live primarily with the father and if he is legally a resident of the District. Just having a lease doesn't establish residency. As for the second example, the grandparents would need to have some type of legal guardianship over the child. Otherwise, they are just babysitters, and out of state residents don't have the right to enroll their kids where their babysitter lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of the individual schools don't give a flip -- for example, Francis-Stevens used to be full of Maryland plates, but maybe that's changed under the new leadership. If you can't count on the school's employees to turn in the cheaters, you might as well give up.

I don't think people should give up. How many students does Oyster send to Deal each year? Yet we're told Deal is now to crowded to accommodate Oyster. I wonder how many Deal and Wilson students really don't live in DC, yet have been able to ride the feeder patterns from elementary school, staying below the radar. I'll bet it's more than a handful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is, that it's just not that easy. I personally know and have known a couple of cheaters in DC, and hey take different forms.

One friend was renting out house IB and living in VA but commuting in every day, blatant cheating. But, the dad moved back into the house a few months ago, although me think the kids spend the bulk of their time at moms in VA. Is this technically cheating?

Then you have the grandma/grandpa addresses. They drop baby off at 7am on their way to work, and pick her up pretty late at night, after dinner. Is that cheating, or is she basically "living at grandma and grandpas"?

I think the fact that they've asked all PS3 programs to do home visits this year is a big part of combatting this. And I think home visits are not only good for parent-teacher relations, it'll weed out a number of people who just don't have the balls to train their kids to lie about where they sleep.

Home visits do not necessarily have to be done in the home and are completely voluntary for parents and teachers.

[Anonymous]

^^ not at all voluntary for teachers. They are a part of our IMPACT evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Dcps is a joke. people call and report cheaters to school and then to central office and no one cares. The system is broke and it won't change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dcps is a joke. people call and report cheaters to school and then to central office and no one cares. The system is broke and it won't change.

Ha! One way to get your kid into Deal should be if you identify and report a cheater. Once they're expelled, you get the spot! Or you could choose to get a portion of the fine/back tuition that they owe DC, like a bounty hunter variant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dcps is a joke. people call and report cheaters to school and then to central office and no one cares. The system is broke and it won't change.

Ha! One way to get your kid into Deal should be if you identify and report a cheater. Once they're expelled, you get the spot! Or you could choose to get a portion of the fine/back tuition that they owe DC, like a bounty hunter variant.

Brilliant, then they'd turn each other in faster than any of us could do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dcps is a joke. people call and report cheaters to school and then to central office and no one cares. The system is broke and it won't change.

Ha! One way to get your kid into Deal should be if you identify and report a cheater. Once they're expelled, you get the spot! Or you could choose to get a portion of the fine/back tuition that they owe DC, like a bounty hunter variant.

the bounty hunter thing you mention is actually the concept of qui tam litigation mentioned above.