First day drop off -- MD tags

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Lots of rough schools in PG county, and if you drive to work in DC, lots of convenient schools, some of them better than your PG options. That residency cheating exists is well-known and documented. The DC govt spends (insufficient) resources policing it and reports on their progress.

If your point was that you live in Bethesda and prefer those schools to DC, who cares, that says nothing about other MD residents.

This whole debate has a lot in common with the church parking issue. Churchgoers at many DC churches actually live in Md. They feel entitled to violate zoned parking laws and double park etc to attend church. They are defended by many native washingtonian AAs and by some long time resident white liberals. And so far, by parking enforcement. And they are criticized by newcomers of all races who think the practice is bullshit and they should move the churches to where they live, or else respect parking laws in Dc.

Same idea with MD people using DC schools (ward 9). Used to be no big deal, but as more and more newcomers arrive and the schools become popular and so on, there is more and more protest. So when you see people defending cheaters here, maybe they are cheaters, but maybe they are just old time washington and they don't like the change that is afoot.

It's so gross that people in this forum spend so much time, mind space and vitriol on this issue, especially when it's evident that if you are at the school making this observation then you've been denied absolutely nothing. If you live in the boundary, you're guaranteed a right to the school. But to go a step further and make it clear that your real disgruntlement is that your neighborhood hasn't cleared out the "old timers" fast enough for your liking is just . . . stomach turning.

DC has been making Sunday parking allowances for decades. Churchgoers are not violating anything except your assumed entitlement to keep black people out of your neighborhood and sight lines once a week. Why - and how - in the world would you expect anyone to move their church?

It has nothing in common with school residency cheating except in your small, mean, racist little mind that's longing for the day when all the people who can't afford $3000/month to live in your midst can be driven out for good. Why don't you just go ahead and do what early segregationists did and gather your neighbors to form a guantlet to spit and throw slurs at the people you don't want in your school.

Otherwise, report your suspicions and then STFU about it. Or maybe move to a place where black people wouldn't dare try to get into your school. There's someone on these boards who talks of their district in Alabama where black people who have the choice to go to better schools just don't. (Hmm. I wonder why.)

It's pretty incredible that you quote the post above, label it "vitriol", and then pen this seething, race-baiting masterpiece.

Oh! You don't like it when people make assumptions about you, form an opinion, and then adamantly post them on a forum - is that it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

sole custody doesn't matter. The residence of the child matters.

No, it's not the residence of the child that matters. It's the residence of the parent who enrolls the child that matters. And if the person who enrolls the child is not a parent, then they have to provide proof of custody or proof that the child is a ward of DC. If they have none of these documents, they must consent to a home visit.

Yes, there are cheaters of every stripe and hue when it comes to tax-funded services, (and they are more often white people but, hey, it's not about race) but in most cases, people are abiding by the rules. Not only are their domestic circumstances none of your f*cking business, there are absolutly NO poor children being denied anything - at least, not to the tune of all the tiny violins played here. There's a place for every DC child in DC public schools. Hell, the schools in the poorest areas of the city are underenrolled.

Stop this bullshit about poor kids being denied. It's such a lame argument for your manic busybodyness. Crusade against tax cheaters - tons of them in the wealthy enclaves of DC, with others making tons of money to help them.

Sorry, but under what theory do the DC taxpayers owe a free public education to kids from PG County??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to laugh at people who say "this isn't about race" and then concoct stories about imaginary pg people, who have their jobs because of Marion Berry. And love cheating the taxpayers.

If you were actually talking about real residency cheating, you might have a point. But having two parents in two different states is not, in fact, cheating. It's playing the lottery, same as you do.

Only, perhaps, not being such a sore... winner? As was pointed out, if you are already AT a school and still obsessive enough to start writing down license plate numbers, there's some issues.

Not really. For some (law-abiding) citizens, law-breakers should be reported. Because, laws. For some other people...well, they use some kind of illogical, emotion-based reasoning to justify the illegality. For a lot of posters I read on this board, it's out of an unfounded motivation to protect non-DC-resident black people. These people/persons seem unswayed by the fact-based logic that giving a slot to a non-DC resident deprives another DC resident of that same slot. These people/persons have "issues," imo.

If the kid lives in Maryland, but goes to school in D.C., the child should not be here. Full stop.

Yes, this is why I keep participating in these residency cheating threads, because of these clueless posters who think that residency cheating is some kind of robin hood activity that helps poor blacks, when in reality it is mostly about middle class people (who may happen to be black) cheating poor blacks.

Remember the cop family that was busted? It sounded like they have a 6 figure HHI, and they were using a rental property. Hardly poor! Use of a rental property is one of the easiest ways to cheat, or a relative's address. The cheaters are not poor. The cheated are, by and large, poor.

Some posters think this is a poor black vs rich white thing, so we get the out of control race-baiting posts like you see in this thread. But we're not talking about Janney here. You'd have to be so brazen to cheat at Janney coming from MD, with its 90-plus percent IB stat. You'd be pretty obvious, having to refuse playdates and avoid all conversation. The more popular cheating targets are, for example, Hill schools, with more diverse student populations, in terms of SES, race, and residency. Easier to get away with it. And those Hill schools with one exception could not be described as wealthy and white.

I don't think that residency cheating is the most importan issue on DC right now, far from it, but people need to stop making misguided social justice themed arguments in favor of it. It hurts, and does not help, poor people. This is one reason why the DC govt, a very liberal one in almost all respects, safe haven for undocumented immigrants, proposal to extend voting to non citizens, big affordable housing push, and so on, is going after residency cheats.

Who is arguing in favor of residency cheating?

Pointing out that there are many people with legitimate reasons for driving kids to DC schools with MD tags, and that many of those legitimate reasons (homelessness, kinship care, foster care, separated or divorced parents, extended family as childcare providers, vehicles shared among extended family) disproportionately impact struggling families and particularly vulnerable kids is not the same as arguing in favor of cheating. It's arguing in favor of finding some method of enforcement that does not involve harassing people without real evidence.

Who is arguing in favor, you ask? This is from the second page of the thread, and it's just the first example I came across. There are plenty others in this thread and other threads who either advocate in favor (like 2R mom here) or else defend cheaters without quite advocating for it, accusing detractors of being racist/classist:

"I have an incoming pk3 at 2R I have md tags as does grandma ... report me and you will be wasting time as other parent lives and owns property in dc ...grandma also owns property in dc and md and a business in dc... so many variables here and the school has all residency documentation they need. Don't take or personal just because our norm differs from yours. BTW as a single mom I'm looking for a place near 2R to rent and we'll let's just say I'm saving fir the 2500 plus a month rent and deposit with no go assistance."

Based on this and subsequent posts, seems that mom has custody and lives in MD. Seems that her family is wealthier than the median, free lunch-qualifying DCPS family from whom she is taking the spot. When I read this, my heart goes out to the low-income family losing the chance at a quality Head Start program at 2R. Apparently when others read this, their heart goes out to the 2R mom, whether because she is single, or a native washingtonian, I have no idea.

As for investigations causing hassles, I am not aware of a widespread phenomenon of people reporting every MD plate they see. Are you? In real life, people are more likely to report when they have an actual suspicion, based on a conversation with the parent or kid, or some other facts in addition to the license plate.

Exactly. If the person dropping off looks like a grandparent or a caregiver, no one is going to care. But if it's obviously a parent who every day drops off in a MD car, the school needs to look into it. We know that there are non-resident students in DCPS and charters, and the flagrant examples usually come out only when something else happens -- the parents whose kid takes their drugs to elementary school and then defend against resulting DC family court proceedings because they are MD residents. The mother who sues her son's DC charter school in MD courts, because that's where they live. Wilson football forfeiting eligibility for a big bowl game because some players are not DC residents. This leaves all the cases that don't get in the news much. The student who asks his teacher during DC history lessons what ward Landover is in. Or the essays that a PP saw posted on a class bulletin board indicating that the students clearly live in Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sole custody doesn't matter. The residence of the child matters.

No, it's not the residence of the child that matters. It's the residence of the parent who enrolls the child that matters. And if the person who enrolls the child is not a parent, then they have to provide proof of custody or proof that the child is a ward of DC. If they have none of these documents, they must consent to a home visit.

Yes, there are cheaters of every stripe and hue when it comes to tax-funded services, (and they are more often white people but, hey, it's not about race) but in most cases, people are abiding by the rules. Not only are their domestic circumstances none of your f*cking business, there are absolutly NO poor children being denied anything - at least, not to the tune of all the tiny violins played here. There's a place for every DC child in DC public schools. Hell, the schools in the poorest areas of the city are underenrolled.

Stop this bullshit about poor kids being denied. It's such a lame argument for your manic busybodyness. Crusade against tax cheaters - tons of them in the wealthy enclaves of DC, with others making tons of money to help them.

Sorry, but under what theory do the DC taxpayers owe a free public education to kids from PG County??

This is pretty far fetched PP. My guess would be wealthy enclaves are paying for a lot of this public education in DC. A lot of 'tax evasion' is done legally through loopholes yadda yadda but all legal, so hopefully you are voting for the candidates that want to reform the tax code.

[Anonymous]

I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

It's just PG County "old-timer" Washingtonians that get them riled up. If you're from Arlington and want to use your DC rental property to enter the lottery, it's no problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

Clearly you don't live in DC, so you should just go away..

But since you ask - Let me educate you. Spots for PK3 and PK4 are scarce; in fact, people have to enter a lottery to get their child in school. Some schools have hundreds of people on the wait list. When you take your child to school, and you see that half the tags are non-DC, and you know that many of your own neighbors kids couldn't get, wouldn't you be a little pissed?

Is this really so hard to comprehend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

Clearly you don't live in DC, so you should just go away..

But since you ask - Let me educate you. Spots for PK3 and PK4 are scarce; in fact, people have to enter a lottery to get their child in school. Some schools have hundreds of people on the wait list. When you take your child to school, and you see that half the tags are non-DC, and you know that many of your own neighbors kids couldn't get, wouldn't you be a little pissed?

Is this really so hard to comprehend?

I was going to reply "oh, they understand, they just don't give a shit", but I'm not so sure. The paranoid comments about church parking is so outrageous. That poster actually believes that the double parking over bike-lanes is a problem to people complaining because those people don't want black people in their sight. WHAT THE FUCK?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

Probably because they've spent the last three years paying twice as much for childcare and living in tinier, cramped quarters compared to residency cheaters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

Clearly you don't live in DC, so you should just go away..

But since you ask - Let me educate you. Spots for PK3 and PK4 are scarce; in fact, people have to enter a lottery to get their child in school. Some schools have hundreds of people on the wait list. When you take your child to school, and you see that half the tags are non-DC, and you know that many of your own neighbors kids couldn't get, wouldn't you be a little pissed?

Is this really so hard to comprehend?

I was going to reply "oh, they understand, they just don't give a shit", but I'm not so sure. The paranoid comments about church parking is so outrageous. That poster actually believes that the double parking over bike-lanes is a problem to people complaining because those people don't want black people in their sight. WHAT THE FUCK?

Yeah, I have developed a working hypothesis that some of the worst race-baiting posts on DCUM are actually written by white people, who are either projecting liberal guilt or are very young and trying on some activism to see how it suits them. The poster you are talking about not only made a racial issue out of a non-racial one, but also used some visceral imagery referencing Jim Crow-era events. In my experience black people tend to have more of a reluctance to take the conversation to such a dark place so quickly, and don't evoke such painful thoughts so casually in response to a minor comment or unrelated issue. Just a hypothesis, impossible to know for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

Clearly you don't live in DC, so you should just go away..

But since you ask - Let me educate you. Spots for PK3 and PK4 are scarce; in fact, people have to enter a lottery to get their child in school. Some schools have hundreds of people on the wait list. When you take your child to school, and you see that half the tags are non-DC, and you know that many of your own neighbors kids couldn't get, wouldn't you be a little pissed?

Is this really so hard to comprehend?

+1 to the last PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just keep asking myself, why are DC residents so paranoid and obsessed with thinking someone is cheating them? Is it the lead in the water? Should we get a zero osmosis filter?

Clearly you don't live in DC, so you should just go away..

But since you ask - Let me educate you. Spots for PK3 and PK4 are scarce; in fact, people have to enter a lottery to get their child in school. Some schools have hundreds of people on the wait list. When you take your child to school, and you see that half the tags are non-DC, and you know that many of your own neighbors kids couldn't get, wouldn't you be a little pissed?

Is this really so hard to comprehend?

+1 to the last PP.

Actually, they are not scarce. Plenty of spots are open.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It is hard to comprehend. Last year we were lucky enough to get a spot after paying 2k plus a month for daycare. You know what it never even occurred to me to do? Look at license plates.

It's always the people who have the most who whine the most about other people possibly having something. Does that mean I condone cheating? Of course not. Does that mean I am a residence cheater? Again... no. But I have several friends who sometimes drive cars with MD plates who are DC residents. I wouldn't share why, although they have legit reasons, because you are all nuts. Most of it involves shared custody and borrowing an extended family member's car.

And the crazy thing is, you're all outraged at this "rampant cheating" but not at all the waste and graft in the dps system. Your charter school getting a climbing wall and an underground parking lot? Yeah, that's a great use of funds. The waste of 300 parents driving across the city to school? Oh, that's just dc. Your school's new construction immediately falling apart? Spend more money on it. PARCC results taking almost a year to come out? In other words, making them useless as a diagnostic tool to assess the kids taking them? Oh, but those lazy teachers. You probably assume they are pg residents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It is hard to comprehend. Last year we were lucky enough to get a spot after paying 2k plus a month for daycare. You know what it never even occurred to me to do? Look at license plates.

It's always the people who have the most who whine the most about other people possibly having something. Does that mean I condone cheating? Of course not. Does that mean I am a residence cheater? Again... no. But I have several friends who sometimes drive cars with MD plates who are DC residents. I wouldn't share why, although they have legit reasons, because you are all nuts. Most of it involves shared custody and borrowing an extended family member's car.

And the crazy thing is, you're all outraged at this "rampant cheating" but not at all the waste and graft in the dps system. Your charter school getting a climbing wall and an underground parking lot? Yeah, that's a great use of funds. The waste of 300 parents driving across the city to school? Oh, that's just dc. Your school's new construction immediately falling apart? Spend more money on it. PARCC results taking almost a year to come out? In other words, making them useless as a diagnostic tool to assess the kids taking them? Oh, but those lazy teachers. You probably assume they are pg residents.

Which charter school has a climbing wall and underground parking?

[Anonymous]

All of them.