My story: Accused of Residency Fraud

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you forgot option d) - express sympathy that OP is the subject of gossip, and outrage that someone followed and photographed her, but also take issue with her exhortation that, "Before reporting suspected parents, please consider the hurt you may cause to those who truly don’t deserve it." (And I think most people's response falls into that category.) You claim she isn't suggesting that others shouldn't report their suspicions, but I'm not sure how else to take that comment. She's obviously advocating that people not report. Think it through - you suspect a parent of residency fraud. Before reporting, you consider that your suspicions might be incorrect, but you still have the suspicions. And then . . . what? You either report or not report.

As for, "The OP is saying that before you report someone, you better be damn sure they are guilty because you are potentially going to unnecessarily cause them hurt," you're mistaken - she doesn't want that at all. The part of this saga that has the OP most upset clearly is that another parent followed her and took pictures of her and her kids. She repeatedly calls it stalking and harassment, and while I might not go that far, it certainly is disconcerting, and parents shouldn't do that. But, how does that square with your suggestion that before reporting one must be "damn sure" the other parent is guilty? How would one become "damn sure" about that? The only way is by doing one's own investigation- which is exactly the most troubling thing about this to the OP. If the general advice and best practice is for parents to decline to become amateur private investigators, setting the reporting bar at "damn sure they are guilty" is *exactly* the wrong way to do it.

Your posts on this thread thus far have been limited to righteous indignation on behalf of the OP, but you haven't addressed the underlying issue. So let me ask you directly - if a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?

Let me get this straight? You are actually advocating that parents follow other parents around, even photographing them, based on suspicions that they might be residency cheaters? That is what you consider proper behavior? I'm sorry, but that's insane.

If you know someone is cheating, turn them in. If you simply think they might be cheating, it's not your job to investigate. I might think you are cheating on your taxes. That doesn't mean I should dig through your trash can looking for financial statements does it? If you don't think current DCPS practices are sufficient to prevent cheating, then advocate for change. Becoming your own vigilante Inspector Clouseau is not the answer. Instead of spending your time trying to justify your suspicions, use that time getting to know other families.

You should get some coffee and read PP's post a bit more carefully.

She's advocating for the precise opposite

I don't drink coffee. The poster is clearing advocating that parents launch their own investigations. I even bolded that sentence.

Not Jeff, but a lot of this drama seems to have occurred because the school confronted the OP with the photos not the parents. Not sure what the school said or if they told the OP who sent them. Not sure what school would do this' however, if it was not the principal and the registrar the OP should have made a complaint and if it was the principal what the hell are they doing running there own unofficial investigation. The school should have told the stalker not to stalk and that all investigation is handled by OSSE. Seems like even with the zealous parents, it's the school that created the drama.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you forgot option d) - express sympathy that OP is the subject of gossip, and outrage that someone followed and photographed her, but also take issue with her exhortation that, "Before reporting suspected parents, please consider the hurt you may cause to those who truly don’t deserve it." (And I think most people's response falls into that category.) You claim she isn't suggesting that others shouldn't report their suspicions, but I'm not sure how else to take that comment. She's obviously advocating that people not report. Think it through - you suspect a parent of residency fraud. Before reporting, you consider that your suspicions might be incorrect, but you still have the suspicions. And then . . . what? You either report or not report.

As for, "The OP is saying that before you report someone, you better be damn sure they are guilty because you are potentially going to unnecessarily cause them hurt," you're mistaken - she doesn't want that at all. The part of this saga that has the OP most upset clearly is that another parent followed her and took pictures of her and her kids. She repeatedly calls it stalking and harassment, and while I might not go that far, it certainly is disconcerting, and parents shouldn't do that. But, how does that square with your suggestion that before reporting one must be "damn sure" the other parent is guilty? How would one become "damn sure" about that? The only way is by doing one's own investigation- which is exactly the most troubling thing about this to the OP. If the general advice and best practice is for parents to decline to become amateur private investigators, setting the reporting bar at "damn sure they are guilty" is *exactly* the wrong way to do it.

Your posts on this thread thus far have been limited to righteous indignation on behalf of the OP, but you haven't addressed the underlying issue. So let me ask you directly - if a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?

Let me get this straight? You are actually advocating that parents follow other parents around, even photographing them, based on suspicions that they might be residency cheaters? That is what you consider proper behavior? I'm sorry, but that's insane.

If you know someone is cheating, turn them in. If you simply think they might be cheating, it's not your job to investigate. I might think you are cheating on your taxes. That doesn't mean I should dig through your trash can looking for financial statements does it? If you don't think current DCPS practices are sufficient to prevent cheating, then advocate for change. Becoming your own vigilante Inspector Clouseau is not the answer. Instead of spending your time trying to justify your suspicions, use that time getting to know other families.

You should get some coffee and read PP's post a bit more carefully.

She's advocating for the precise opposite

I don't drink coffee. The poster is clearing advocating that parents launch their own investigations. I even bolded that sentence.

OK, now I think you are just trolling me. *You* set the standard of being absolutely sure of a violation before reporting it; I pointed out that the if that's the standard, people will be more likely to investigate themselves, and then you claim I am advocating the investigation? Come on.

On the other hand, I have said on multiple occasions, (i) if you have a suspicion, you should report it, and let the authorities look into it, and (ii) people should not perform their own investigations.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you forgot option d) - express sympathy that OP is the subject of gossip, and outrage that someone followed and photographed her, but also take issue with her exhortation that, "Before reporting suspected parents, please consider the hurt you may cause to those who truly don’t deserve it." (And I think most people's response falls into that category.) You claim she isn't suggesting that others shouldn't report their suspicions, but I'm not sure how else to take that comment. She's obviously advocating that people not report. Think it through - you suspect a parent of residency fraud. Before reporting, you consider that your suspicions might be incorrect, but you still have the suspicions. And then . . . what? You either report or not report.

As for, "The OP is saying that before you report someone, you better be damn sure they are guilty because you are potentially going to unnecessarily cause them hurt," you're mistaken - she doesn't want that at all. The part of this saga that has the OP most upset clearly is that another parent followed her and took pictures of her and her kids. She repeatedly calls it stalking and harassment, and while I might not go that far, it certainly is disconcerting, and parents shouldn't do that. But, how does that square with your suggestion that before reporting one must be "damn sure" the other parent is guilty? How would one become "damn sure" about that? The only way is by doing one's own investigation- which is exactly the most troubling thing about this to the OP. If the general advice and best practice is for parents to decline to become amateur private investigators, setting the reporting bar at "damn sure they are guilty" is *exactly* the wrong way to do it.

Your posts on this thread thus far have been limited to righteous indignation on behalf of the OP, but you haven't addressed the underlying issue. So let me ask you directly - if a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?

Let me get this straight? You are actually advocating that parents follow other parents around, even photographing them, based on suspicions that they might be residency cheaters? That is what you consider proper behavior? I'm sorry, but that's insane.

If you know someone is cheating, turn them in. If you simply think they might be cheating, it's not your job to investigate. I might think you are cheating on your taxes. That doesn't mean I should dig through your trash can looking for financial statements does it? If you don't think current DCPS practices are sufficient to prevent cheating, then advocate for change. Becoming your own vigilante Inspector Clouseau is not the answer. Instead of spending your time trying to justify your suspicions, use that time getting to know other families.

I have no idea how to respond to this. You either didn't read, didn't understand, or are willfully misconstruing my post. I bolded another sentence for you, just to help.

*You* are the one advocating that one be "damn sure" someone is cheating before turning them in. In fact, in this post, you repeated the same sentiment - "If you know someone is cheating, turn them in." But setting that standard - certainty of cheating - is what inevitably leads to the investigations.

And you didn't answer my question, which I will repeat here: "If a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?"

You seem to be suggesting that there is some imperative for parents to turn in potential cheaters. Therefore, you propose two alternatives: 1) launch your own investigation of parents that you suspect of cheating; or 2) report parents based on mere "suspicions". However, there is always the choice of doing nothing and I think that in the absence of actual knowledge of cheating, most of the time that is the best choice. This is for the school system to handle, not individual parents. "A good faith suspicion" is not a precisely-defined term and can mean different things to different people. To one person, such a suspicion might be based on simply seeing a child being driven to and from school in a car with a Maryland license plate. To someone else, quite a bit more evidence might be required. Regardless, as long as there is nothing more than a "suspicion", good faith or not, I don't think you should do anything. There are more productive ways to spend your time and energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you forgot option d) - express sympathy that OP is the subject of gossip, and outrage that someone followed and photographed her, but also take issue with her exhortation that, "Before reporting suspected parents, please consider the hurt you may cause to those who truly don’t deserve it." (And I think most people's response falls into that category.) You claim she isn't suggesting that others shouldn't report their suspicions, but I'm not sure how else to take that comment. She's obviously advocating that people not report. Think it through - you suspect a parent of residency fraud. Before reporting, you consider that your suspicions might be incorrect, but you still have the suspicions. And then . . . what? You either report or not report.

As for, "The OP is saying that before you report someone, you better be damn sure they are guilty because you are potentially going to unnecessarily cause them hurt," you're mistaken - she doesn't want that at all. The part of this saga that has the OP most upset clearly is that another parent followed her and took pictures of her and her kids. She repeatedly calls it stalking and harassment, and while I might not go that far, it certainly is disconcerting, and parents shouldn't do that. But, how does that square with your suggestion that before reporting one must be "damn sure" the other parent is guilty? How would one become "damn sure" about that? The only way is by doing one's own investigation- which is exactly the most troubling thing about this to the OP. If the general advice and best practice is for parents to decline to become amateur private investigators, setting the reporting bar at "damn sure they are guilty" is *exactly* the wrong way to do it.

Your posts on this thread thus far have been limited to righteous indignation on behalf of the OP, but you haven't addressed the underlying issue. So let me ask you directly - if a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?

Let me get this straight? You are actually advocating that parents follow other parents around, even photographing them, based on suspicions that they might be residency cheaters? That is what you consider proper behavior? I'm sorry, but that's insane.

If you know someone is cheating, turn them in. If you simply think they might be cheating, it's not your job to investigate. I might think you are cheating on your taxes. That doesn't mean I should dig through your trash can looking for financial statements does it? If you don't think current DCPS practices are sufficient to prevent cheating, then advocate for change. Becoming your own vigilante Inspector Clouseau is not the answer. Instead of spending your time trying to justify your suspicions, use that time getting to know other families.

You should get some coffee and read PP's post a bit more carefully.

She's advocating for the precise opposite

I don't drink coffee. The poster is clearing advocating that parents launch their own investigations. I even bolded that sentence.

OK, now I think you are just trolling me. *You* set the standard of being absolutely sure of a violation before reporting it; I pointed out that the if that's the standard, people will be more likely to investigate themselves, and then you claim I am advocating the investigation? Come on.

On the other hand, I have said on multiple occasions, (i) if you have a suspicion, you should report it, and let the authorities look into it, and (ii) people should not perform their own investigations.

Best luck, PP!

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you forgot option d) - express sympathy that OP is the subject of gossip, and outrage that someone followed and photographed her, but also take issue with her exhortation that, "Before reporting suspected parents, please consider the hurt you may cause to those who truly don’t deserve it." (And I think most people's response falls into that category.) You claim she isn't suggesting that others shouldn't report their suspicions, but I'm not sure how else to take that comment. She's obviously advocating that people not report. Think it through - you suspect a parent of residency fraud. Before reporting, you consider that your suspicions might be incorrect, but you still have the suspicions. And then . . . what? You either report or not report.

As for, "The OP is saying that before you report someone, you better be damn sure they are guilty because you are potentially going to unnecessarily cause them hurt," you're mistaken - she doesn't want that at all. The part of this saga that has the OP most upset clearly is that another parent followed her and took pictures of her and her kids. She repeatedly calls it stalking and harassment, and while I might not go that far, it certainly is disconcerting, and parents shouldn't do that. But, how does that square with your suggestion that before reporting one must be "damn sure" the other parent is guilty? How would one become "damn sure" about that? The only way is by doing one's own investigation- which is exactly the most troubling thing about this to the OP. If the general advice and best practice is for parents to decline to become amateur private investigators, setting the reporting bar at "damn sure they are guilty" is *exactly* the wrong way to do it.

Your posts on this thread thus far have been limited to righteous indignation on behalf of the OP, but you haven't addressed the underlying issue. So let me ask you directly - if a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?

Let me get this straight? You are actually advocating that parents follow other parents around, even photographing them, based on suspicions that they might be residency cheaters? That is what you consider proper behavior? I'm sorry, but that's insane.

If you know someone is cheating, turn them in. If you simply think they might be cheating, it's not your job to investigate. I might think you are cheating on your taxes. That doesn't mean I should dig through your trash can looking for financial statements does it? If you don't think current DCPS practices are sufficient to prevent cheating, then advocate for change. Becoming your own vigilante Inspector Clouseau is not the answer. Instead of spending your time trying to justify your suspicions, use that time getting to know other families.

I have no idea how to respond to this. You either didn't read, didn't understand, or are willfully misconstruing my post. I bolded another sentence for you, just to help.

*You* are the one advocating that one be "damn sure" someone is cheating before turning them in. In fact, in this post, you repeated the same sentiment - "If you know someone is cheating, turn them in." But setting that standard - certainty of cheating - is what inevitably leads to the investigations.

And you didn't answer my question, which I will repeat here: "If a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?"

You seem to be suggesting that there is some imperative for parents to turn in potential cheaters. Therefore, you propose two alternatives: 1) launch your own investigation of parents that you suspect of cheating; or 2) report parents based on mere "suspicions". However, there is always the choice of doing nothing and I think that in the absence of actual knowledge of cheating, most of the time that is the best choice. This is for the school system to handle, not individual parents. "A good faith suspicion" is not a precisely-defined term and can mean different things to different people. To one person, such a suspicion might be based on simply seeing a child being driven to and from school in a car with a Maryland license plate. To someone else, quite a bit more evidence might be required. Regardless, as long as there is nothing more than a "suspicion", good faith or not, I don't think you should do anything. There are more productive ways to spend your time and energy.

This is all getting way too personal...This may have happened to the OP but something doesn't ring true about the school confronting her, you know how many homeless families are in DC? Principals just don't get involved in this at least at DCPS, they know to leave it to OSSE they have way more important things to think about, and as most folks have complained about they don't do much about it. OSSE comes to schools and reviews all paperwork in the office, I have done this and know how it works. They identify anything that needs further investigation at the audit, which happens once a year. After that DCPS principals are not going to be tracking down folks and following up. Schools check their books before OSSE comes and sometimes asks parents for additional docs, if something is not clear. No, parents should absolutely not be following other parents, the parent who did this obviously has some serious issues or a vendetta. Not the previous poster, but some parts of this story are seriously off even though the the gist of the scenario may have some truth. The moral of the story is leave it to the authorities ...

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you forgot option d) - express sympathy that OP is the subject of gossip, and outrage that someone followed and photographed her, but also take issue with her exhortation that, "Before reporting suspected parents, please consider the hurt you may cause to those who truly don’t deserve it." (And I think most people's response falls into that category.) You claim she isn't suggesting that others shouldn't report their suspicions, but I'm not sure how else to take that comment. She's obviously advocating that people not report. Think it through - you suspect a parent of residency fraud. Before reporting, you consider that your suspicions might be incorrect, but you still have the suspicions. And then . . . what? You either report or not report.

As for, "The OP is saying that before you report someone, you better be damn sure they are guilty because you are potentially going to unnecessarily cause them hurt," you're mistaken - she doesn't want that at all. The part of this saga that has the OP most upset clearly is that another parent followed her and took pictures of her and her kids. She repeatedly calls it stalking and harassment, and while I might not go that far, it certainly is disconcerting, and parents shouldn't do that. But, how does that square with your suggestion that before reporting one must be "damn sure" the other parent is guilty? How would one become "damn sure" about that? The only way is by doing one's own investigation- which is exactly the most troubling thing about this to the OP. If the general advice and best practice is for parents to decline to become amateur private investigators, setting the reporting bar at "damn sure they are guilty" is *exactly* the wrong way to do it.

Your posts on this thread thus far have been limited to righteous indignation on behalf of the OP, but you haven't addressed the underlying issue. So let me ask you directly - if a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?

Let me get this straight? You are actually advocating that parents follow other parents around, even photographing them, based on suspicions that they might be residency cheaters? That is what you consider proper behavior? I'm sorry, but that's insane.

If you know someone is cheating, turn them in. If you simply think they might be cheating, it's not your job to investigate. I might think you are cheating on your taxes. That doesn't mean I should dig through your trash can looking for financial statements does it? If you don't think current DCPS practices are sufficient to prevent cheating, then advocate for change. Becoming your own vigilante Inspector Clouseau is not the answer. Instead of spending your time trying to justify your suspicions, use that time getting to know other families.

I have no idea how to respond to this. You either didn't read, didn't understand, or are willfully misconstruing my post. I bolded another sentence for you, just to help.

*You* are the one advocating that one be "damn sure" someone is cheating before turning them in. In fact, in this post, you repeated the same sentiment - "If you know someone is cheating, turn them in." But setting that standard - certainty of cheating - is what inevitably leads to the investigations.

And you didn't answer my question, which I will repeat here: "If a person has a good faith suspicion that another family at his or her kid's school is engaged in residency fraud, what do you think they should do?"

You seem to be suggesting that there is some imperative for parents to turn in potential cheaters. Therefore, you propose two alternatives: 1) launch your own investigation of parents that you suspect of cheating; or 2) report parents based on mere "suspicions". However, there is always the choice of doing nothing and I think that in the absence of actual knowledge of cheating, most of the time that is the best choice. This is for the school system to handle, not individual parents. "A good faith suspicion" is not a precisely-defined term and can mean different things to different people. To one person, such a suspicion might be based on simply seeing a child being driven to and from school in a car with a Maryland license plate. To someone else, quite a bit more evidence might be required. Regardless, as long as there is nothing more than a "suspicion", good faith or not, I don't think you should do anything. There are more productive ways to spend your time and energy.

Well, I guess we disagree about this. I don't propose to spend any time and energy on it, other than to make a phone call. But that's the whole point of the tip line, ins't it? Good faith suspicions do mean different things to different people, and I'm not going to propose a universal definition.

And to be clear, I am not proposing, at all, to launch my own investigation. I have neither the time nor the inclination to do that. But I think potential residency fraud should be investigated by the proper authorities, just like any other fraud. I feel the same way about package theft, or a car that is broken into. The DC AG just sued 6 families under the False Claims Act for residency fraud - how do you feel about those suits? If you're in favor of them, I'm having a hard time understanding how you don't think potential violations shouldn't be investigated.

TO be clear, this applies to out of state residency fraud - MD or VA students attending DC schools, and vice versa. I am more ambivalent about DC specific residency fraud, where people like about IB/OOB status. But that seems to inflame just as many passions as the out of district fraud does.)

[Anonymous]

OP here.

I’d hope that residency verification could be improved or increased in frequency to eliminate encouraging stalking or parent/community investigators. Being followed or having a feeling that someone would follow us possibly repeatedly or again is truly what has bothered me the most.

The current watchdog reporting process seems (based on the data) to catch more innocent people than guilty ones.

One could say I shouldn’t care, I was cleared, it’s a year later. But to have our home invaded by a stranger, then to later have a parent follow and take pictures of you and your children, it can shake a person up.

I read many stories in the media and listened to other accounts of families impacted by the current process and learned a lot about what others have gone through. My situation was unique, but shared in that I can relate to parents who are falsely accused or followed.

I can only imagine how a family who was not of means would have handled it.

There’s got to be a better way.

This will be my last post here. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

OP wasn't even accused of residency fraud. Just boundary fraud.

None of what is going on in the cases Racine is pursuing even applies to her. This is a non-issue.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
This is all getting way too personal...This may have happened to the OP but something doesn't ring true about the school confronting her, you know how many homeless families are in DC? Principals just don't get involved in this at least at DCPS, they know to leave it to OSSE they have way more important things to think about, and as most folks have complained about they don't do much about it. OSSE comes to schools and reviews all paperwork in the office, I have done this and know how it works. They identify anything that needs further investigation at the audit, which happens once a year. After that DCPS principals are not going to be tracking down folks and following up. Schools check their books before OSSE comes and sometimes asks parents for additional docs, if something is not clear. No, parents should absolutely not be following other parents, the parent who did this obviously has some serious issues or a vendetta. Not the previous poster, but some parts of this story are seriously off even though the the gist of the scenario may have some truth. The moral of the story is leave it to the authorities ...

I think the explanation as to why the principal got involved was just provided in another thread. The OP of this thread was suspected of boundary fraud rather than residency fraud. Boundary fraud apparently falls under DCPS’ purview. Also, I would imagine that a parent motivated enough to follow and photograph another parent has the potential to be a giant pain in a principal’s ass. The principal may have felt pressured to confront the OP

[Anonymous]

One more thing, this post has helped. Even a few of the opinions that were less than sympathetic to my situation were useful. The responses to those also have made me reflect on other aspects of equity and schools. Thank you.

-OP

[Anonymous]

And here's the crux of it, if everyone could just go everywhere all the schools would be bad. The schools in upper NW or WOTP are only good because they are exclusive it has nothing to do with the schools or the teachers it's to do with the children, poverty, and economics. Trust me the skills and teaching expertise the teachers have in some of the worst schools in DC are amazing; however, they get no credit due to the test scores. Let it be a free for all and know one will be clamoring to go anywhere just like the suggestion for WOTP teachers to go EOTP. It would be an interesting social experiment and maybe in 10-15 years it would all work out but I know that most residents would not support it, I wonder why?

And this poster says the quiet part loud. Those most incensed about possible boundary fraud are worried that they will lose something if they are forced to share with someone who is unworthy. There is a nasty, racist undertone to these do-gooders looking to ferret out fraud in their neighborhood schools.

OP - I'm so sorry that you had such a terrible experience both in your home, and with this investigation. I can completely understand how it felt to realize that someone in this community that you felt a part of chose to hone in on you as a target. I was mugged several years ago, and still remember the feeling when that person turned their attention to me. That was the worst part of the experience - coming into the gaze and awareness of someone who meant me harm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I’d hope that residency verification could be improved or increased in frequency to eliminate encouraging stalking or parent/community investigators. Being followed or having a feeling that someone would follow us possibly repeatedly or again is truly what has bothered me the most.

The current watchdog reporting process seems (based on the data) to catch more innocent people than guilty ones.

One could say I shouldn’t care, I was cleared, it’s a year later. But to have our home invaded by a stranger, then to later have a parent follow and take pictures of you and your children, it can shake a person up.

I read many stories in the media and listened to other accounts of families impacted by the current process and learned a lot about what others have gone through. My situation was unique, but shared in that I can relate to parents who are falsely accused or followed.

I can only imagine how a family who was not of means would have handled it.

There’s got to be a better way.

This will be my last post here. Thanks.

I don't understand why you say the current system is designed to catch innocent people. When you investigate, you will necessarily investigate some people who ultimately are innocent- that's the way the system should work. If you only investigated people who you know are guilty before looking into it, rampant abuse will occur unchecked. (I say this as an investigator at a government agency who had a boss who required us to prove guilt before we could even investigate, to the sever detriment to the people we were supposed to protect.)

Also, you say your "home was invaded," but that sounds incredibly dramatic and not likely an accurate reflection of what occurred. Taking limited steps to determine if you live where you claim (and must to attend your school) is hardly and invasion.

I understand you are pissed at those who reported you and, even more do, gossiped about you. I understand you are shook up about broader things you are going through. But as for the possibility of you committing residency fraud, the system seems to have worked as it should. Otherwise, rampant fraud/theft, which is not a victimless crime despite but many initimated, will perpetuate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And here's the crux of it, if everyone could just go everywhere all the schools would be bad. The schools in upper NW or WOTP are only good because they are exclusive it has nothing to do with the schools or the teachers it's to do with the children, poverty, and economics. Trust me the skills and teaching expertise the teachers have in some of the worst schools in DC are amazing; however, they get no credit due to the test scores. Let it be a free for all and know one will be clamoring to go anywhere just like the suggestion for WOTP teachers to go EOTP. It would be an interesting social experiment and maybe in 10-15 years it would all work out but I know that most residents would not support it, I wonder why?

And this poster says the quiet part loud. Those most incensed about possible boundary fraud are worried that they will lose something if they are forced to share with someone who is unworthy. There is a nasty, racist undertone to these do-gooders looking to ferret out fraud in their neighborhood schools.

OP - I'm so sorry that you had such a terrible experience both in your home, and with this investigation. I can completely understand how it felt to realize that someone in this community that you felt a part of chose to hone in on you as a target. I was mugged several years ago, and still remember the feeling when that person turned their attention to me. That was the worst part of the experience - coming into the gaze and awareness of someone who meant me harm.

Oh, FFS. You are now comparing a possible residency fraud report to a MUGGING? Jesus, people, get some perspective. The FRAUD is the crime, not the reporting of fraud, or finding of fraud. Yes, I think it's stupid and assholic for parents to swan around like Nancy Drew solving crimes, but plenty of hardworking DC parents scrimped and sacrificed to afford their WOTP schools and are perfectly justified to feel pissed off by those airy apologists who spout off about "education is a public good" and "racist undertones." We are lucky to have our children at a charter we love, but I often wonder if I would have had the guts to sell our house and move into a two-bedroom apartment zoned for Hearst like our neighbors did last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I’d hope that residency verification could be improved or increased in frequency to eliminate encouraging stalking or parent/community investigators. Being followed or having a feeling that someone would follow us possibly repeatedly or again is truly what has bothered me the most.

The current watchdog reporting process seems (based on the data) to catch more innocent people than guilty ones.

One could say I shouldn’t care, I was cleared, it’s a year later. But to have our home invaded by a stranger, then to later have a parent follow and take pictures of you and your children, it can shake a person up.

I read many stories in the media and listened to other accounts of families impacted by the current process and learned a lot about what others have gone through. My situation was unique, but shared in that I can relate to parents who are falsely accused or followed.

I can only imagine how a family who was not of means would have handled it.

There’s got to be a better way.

This will be my last post here. Thanks.

I don't understand why you say the current system is designed to catch innocent people. When you investigate, you will necessarily investigate some people who ultimately are innocent- that's the way the system should work. If you only investigated people who you know are guilty before looking into it, rampant abuse will occur unchecked. (I say this as an investigator at a government agency who had a boss who required us to prove guilt before we could even investigate, to the sever detriment to the people we were supposed to protect.)

Also, you say your "home was invaded," but that sounds incredibly dramatic and not likely an accurate reflection of what occurred. Taking limited steps to determine if you live where you claim (and must to attend your school) is hardly and invasion.

I understand you are pissed at those who reported you and, even more do, gossiped about you. I understand you are shook up about broader things you are going through. But as for the possibility of you committing residency fraud, the system seems to have worked as it should. Otherwise, rampant fraud/theft, which is not a victimless crime despite but many initimated, will perpetuate.

+1.

This thread is full of drama about nothing.

[Anonymous]

1. it's not hard, for nearly everyone, to prove where you live. it just isn't. here's what you need: https://www.myschooldc.org/enroll/dc-residency-requirements

2. the dc government is well aware that there are a small number people in unusual circumstances where they have more difficulty proving where they live. the government is not surprised by these cases, and they know how to deal with it.

3. the dc government generally speaking is not in the business of persecuting poor people. and, relatedly, the dc government does a terribly job of enforcing residency requirements. my guess is that, if you're in the government's sights on this, it's most likely because it is a really egregious case that even they can't ignore.

4. people cheat.