WaPo takes deep dive into DCPS residency fraud

[Anonymous]

Here is the deal - all you need is a few well publicized stories on Families having to pay - and implication to students and people will start to think twice about it.

If DC said - you have until the end of April to withdraw - after that, we will not release transcripts for any child we find cheating the system.

Send out the note across social media so that all high school students see it. They know where they live. State that all official documents will be sent certified mail to address used for registering. That these materials are no longer eligible to be picked up at school.

Make sure high school students understand why it matters that they get their official documents including diplomas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the deal - all you need is a few well publicized stories on Families having to pay - and implication to students and people will start to think twice about it.

If DC said - you have until the end of April to withdraw - after that, we will not release transcripts for any child we find cheating the system.

Send out the note across social media so that all high school students see it. They know where they live. State that all official documents will be sent certified mail to address used for registering. That these materials are no longer eligible to be picked up at school.

Make sure high school students understand why it matters that they get their official documents including diplomas.

and for anyone saying it is unfair to the kids - there is a proposal to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote. If they are old enough to vote - they are old enough to look in the mirror and say what they are doing is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the deal - all you need is a few well publicized stories on Families having to pay - and implication to students and people will start to think twice about it.

If DC said - you have until the end of April to withdraw - after that, we will not release transcripts for any child we find cheating the system.

Send out the note across social media so that all high school students see it. They know where they live. State that all official documents will be sent certified mail to address used for registering. That these materials are no longer eligible to be picked up at school.

Make sure high school students understand why it matters that they get their official documents including diplomas.

I think it's been abundantly shown that the DC government has no actual interest in solving the problem.

It is a very solvable problem. What's lacking is will.

[Anonymous]

have to wonder who much the waitlists for these schools would shrink if the dc government made any effort to prevent its own employees from cheating the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:have to wonder who much the waitlists for these schools would shrink if the dc government made any effort to prevent its own employees from cheating the system.

Doubt it. The best neighborhood schools are overenrolled, and if an IB student drops out, there isn't an empty seat. It just becomes less overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have to wonder who much the waitlists for these schools would shrink if the dc government made any effort to prevent its own employees from cheating the system.

Doubt it. The best neighborhood schools are overenrolled, and if an IB student drops out, there isn't an empty seat. It just becomes less overcrowded.

earlier in the discussion there was a specific example of a student at School Without Walls. I know of a student at McKinley Tech. Both of these schools have waitlists.

Let's pretend that at every Tier 1 school there is 1 child per grade that is residency fraud. This adds up and makes a difference at the macro level.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t the FBI investigating DCPS fir the Ballou debacle. Seems like they we be more interested in rampant boundary cheating because federal funds are involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have to wonder who much the waitlists for these schools would shrink if the dc government made any effort to prevent its own employees from cheating the system.

Doubt it. The best neighborhood schools are overenrolled, and if an IB student drops out, there isn't an empty seat. It just becomes less overcrowded.

earlier in the discussion there was a specific example of a student at School Without Walls. I know of a student at McKinley Tech. Both of these schools have waitlists.

Let's pretend that at every Tier 1 school there is 1 child per grade that is residency fraud. This adds up and makes a difference at the macro level.

With the feeder path guarantee, this does add up. Because no one in power actually wants to fix this, for all we know the overcrowding in the Wilson feeder schools - and Brent and Maury - could be eliminated if we eliminated the fraud.

Can we please do that before we talk any more about either ending OOB rights for children who live in the city legitimately or building some new school in ward 3?

[Anonymous]

You'd think it would be easy for the D.C. government to police its own employees, when it comes to cheating the residency requirement for schools, because it already has their tax information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have to wonder who much the waitlists for these schools would shrink if the dc government made any effort to prevent its own employees from cheating the system.

Doubt it. The best neighborhood schools are overenrolled, and if an IB student drops out, there isn't an empty seat. It just becomes less overcrowded.

earlier in the discussion there was a specific example of a student at School Without Walls. I know of a student at McKinley Tech. Both of these schools have waitlists.

Let's pretend that at every Tier 1 school there is 1 child per grade that is residency fraud. This adds up and makes a difference at the macro level.

Does it? Let's say my kid is going into K. There are maybe 100 schools in DCPS/PCS offering K, of any tier. If each has one residency cheater in K, that's going to be less than 100 spots because overcrowded schools might not consider it an empty seat. So estimate 80. Some schools are under-enrolled and a residency cheater is not taking a spot that someone else wants. So more like 50. Then take out the schools I would not enroll in or would not drive to and it's more like 20 spots. So, I would not expect to feel an impact. I'm all for ending the culture of cheating among middle class families, but not because I think it will make my kid get in somewhere. For a few people it will make that critical offer come through, but most people aren't high enough on a waitlist for it to matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'd think it would be easy for the D.C. government to police its own employees, when it comes to cheating the residency requirement for schools, because it already has their tax information.

The cheaters are playing a risky game. New leadership can easily connect the dots and has all the data points that will give them cause to clean house and start assessing big fines.

I think it's only a matter of time before the DC Attorney General gets a hold of the tax data. Frankly, I think maybe OSSE will lose enforcement powers and it may be moved into a neutral entity (i.e. , the AG's office).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'd think it would be easy for the D.C. government to police its own employees, when it comes to cheating the residency requirement for schools, because it already has their tax information.

The cheaters are playing a risky game. New leadership can easily connect the dots and has all the data points that will give them cause to clean house and start assessing big fines.

I think it's only a matter of time before the DC Attorney General gets a hold of the tax data. Frankly, I think maybe OSSE will lose enforcement powers and it may be moved into a neutral entity (i.e. , the AG's office).

And they can garnish wages. It's obviously a matter of lack of will rather than ability to correct.

[Anonymous]

Did you see Charles Allen’s lukewarm response? Meanwhile there is a TON of cheating at Hill schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have to wonder who much the waitlists for these schools would shrink if the dc government made any effort to prevent its own employees from cheating the system.

Doubt it. The best neighborhood schools are overenrolled, and if an IB student drops out, there isn't an empty seat. It just becomes less overcrowded.

earlier in the discussion there was a specific example of a student at School Without Walls. I know of a student at McKinley Tech. Both of these schools have waitlists.

Let's pretend that at every Tier 1 school there is 1 child per grade that is residency fraud. This adds up and makes a difference at the macro level.

With the feeder path guarantee, this does add up. Because no one in power actually wants to fix this, for all we know the overcrowding in the Wilson feeder schools - and Brent and Maury - could be eliminated if we eliminated the fraud.

Can we please do that before we talk any more about either ending OOB rights for children who live in the city legitimately or building some new school in ward 3?

I'm against this as much as anyone. However are you really suggesting like 10%+ of the students in the Wilson feeders, Brent, and Maury are from MD? The overcrowding at a handfull of schools and the out of city people cheating the system are largely two separate issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'd think it would be easy for the D.C. government to police its own employees, when it comes to cheating the residency requirement for schools, because it already has their tax information.

The cheaters are playing a risky game. New leadership can easily connect the dots and has all the data points that will give them cause to clean house and start assessing big fines.

I think it's only a matter of time before the DC Attorney General gets a hold of the tax data. Frankly, I think maybe OSSE will lose enforcement powers and it may be moved into a neutral entity (i.e. , the AG's office).

Did you read Racine's reaction?

OSSE sent 100+ cases to him and fewer than 10% have been pursued. Racine said that they weigh whether it's truly worth expending resources on these, including whether it's likely any money would be recouped. He doesn't see an upside to going after these folks either.