WaPo takes deep dive into DCPS residency fraud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue is it is clear that reporting these people does not matter. As long as there is only one investigator, as long as cases are dismissed, and as long as fines are not collected there is little reason for people to change their behavior.

So instead of writing down plate numbers, write, or better yet visit, your CMs. I'm not sure how much it will matter but it is clear going through the current channels do not work so don't waste your time.

Charles Allen released a statement a few days ago. It was the DEFINITION of lukewarm. As usual his focus is getting re-elected, not doing anything for Ward 6. I hope Capitol Hill parents can afford private daycare.

[Anonymous]

Why is it up to parents to report people? What about school staff? Aren't they the ones who are more likely to know where kids actually live?

In my child's class at a charter, there are 3 kids who live in MD. They often arrive late to school due to traffic, they have birthday parties in MD, they talk about where they live, etc. All 3 have been at the school for 4 years.

There has to be some incentive for teachers and admin to report these people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it up to parents to report people? What about school staff? Aren't they the ones who are more likely to know where kids actually live?

In my child's class at a charter, there are 3 kids who live in MD. They often arrive late to school due to traffic, they have birthday parties in MD, they talk about where they live, etc. All 3 have been at the school for 4 years.

There has to be some incentive for teachers and admin to report these people.

+1

There needs to be accountability at the school level. Make residency verification and fraud prevention part of the metric that schools and teachers are evaluated against. At my elementary I know of at least 2 teachers/staff members that bring extended family members (grandchildren/nieces/nephews etc.) with them to school each day from Maryland. Everyone knows its happening - I've even heard someone in the administration say "there's nothing we can do - if they want in they will find a way." If there was consequences for DCPS employees who assist people in residency fraud maybe it would stop. Same should be true to DC government employees who participate in a fraud against the city. Heck make it a crime for anyone to participate in a residency fraud. Maybe extended family members will be less willing to loan out their address if there are real consequences.

[Anonymous]

Questions I would like to ask my child's school:
What happens when residency paperwork looks legitimate but a student or parent has disclosed to staff that they don't live in D.C.?
What is the next step the school takes in this situation?
Does the school follow up to ask for more proof or do they immediately call OSSE?
How often do they follow this protocol?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it up to parents to report people? What about school staff? Aren't they the ones who are more likely to know where kids actually live?

In my child's class at a charter, there are 3 kids who live in MD. They often arrive late to school due to traffic, they have birthday parties in MD, they talk about where they live, etc. All 3 have been at the school for 4 years.

There has to be some incentive for teachers and admin to report these people.

+1

There needs to be accountability at the school level. Make residency verification and fraud prevention part of the metric that schools and teachers are evaluated against. At my elementary I know of at least 2 teachers/staff members that bring extended family members (grandchildren/nieces/nephews etc.) with them to school each day from Maryland. Everyone knows its happening - I've even heard someone in the administration say "there's nothing we can do - if they want in they will find a way." If there was consequences for DCPS employees who assist people in residency fraud maybe it would stop. Same should be true to DC government employees who participate in a fraud against the city. Heck make it a crime for anyone to participate in a residency fraud. Maybe extended family members will be less willing to loan out their address if there are real consequences.

There is something they can do: Fire the teachers and staff members immediately and for cause. And expel their relatives back across the Maryland line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Questions I would like to ask my child's school:
What happens when residency paperwork looks legitimate but a student or parent has disclosed to staff that they don't live in D.C.?
What is the next step the school takes in this situation?
Does the school follow up to ask for more proof or do they immediately call OSSE?
How often do they follow this protocol?

Why haven’t you asked your school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's well publicized that some people who commit crimes go to jail for a long time, but there's still plenty of crime - that's because criminals don't expect to get caught. Research consistently finds that "The certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment." (https://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx)

An out-of-district parent who knows of dozens of people who don't pay anything and a few who pay a lot, they are unlikely to be deterred. So while people who are caught shouldn't be let off the hook, the focus should be on removing out-of-district families.

Here's the other way to catch the scammers. Right now, many schools have a financial incentive not to worry about residency fraud. DC should make clear that if schools report fraud and expel scammers, that they will get to keep their funding and even get a bonus for each fraud case they uncover. On the other hand, if the fraud is uncovered by OSSE, then the school should lose 150% of the scammer's per pupil funding allotment. That will focus the principals on the problem damn quick.

This is a good idea that could be taken a step further, by offering admins major financial incentives to attract and retain in-boundary families. They currently have none. This is half the reason you see EotP schools, particularly on Cap Hill, where 2/3 of the students are OOB (and poor in largely gentrified neighborhoods). If you want to make a neighborhood school system work, you need provide principals with incentives to work to draw neighbors in.

red herring -- the concern here is residency fraud and out of district not out of boundary students, most of whom apply entirely by the rules through the lottery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's well publicized that some people who commit crimes go to jail for a long time, but there's still plenty of crime - that's because criminals don't expect to get caught. Research consistently finds that "The certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment." (https://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx)

An out-of-district parent who knows of dozens of people who don't pay anything and a few who pay a lot, they are unlikely to be deterred. So while people who are caught shouldn't be let off the hook, the focus should be on removing out-of-district families.

Here's the other way to catch the scammers. Right now, many schools have a financial incentive not to worry about residency fraud. DC should make clear that if schools report fraud and expel scammers, that they will get to keep their funding and even get a bonus for each fraud case they uncover. On the other hand, if the fraud is uncovered by OSSE, then the school should lose 150% of the scammer's per pupil funding allotment. That will focus the principals on the problem damn quick.

You have this backwards. OSSE should do ALL of the residency verification and the schools should do none. Take it out of individual schools' hands just like they did with the lottery. It's either all above board or OSSE owns the failures.

Yeah what is one registrar or clerk supposed to do in a school, they are in the office and copy the docs, if they look fraudulent they don't register. These folks are not stupid they are using others addresses, fake docs, and fake letters from grandma!

It's the school administrators, teachers and employees who know that the kids don't live in DC. Sometimes the students will say something. Other times, school employees see the kids getting out of and into MD cars every day, and it's clear that the driver isn't a grandparent or a caregiver.

Yes we know, but the families provide fake docs as the bar is really low, hence the need for investigation!

there's a role for investigation, but better oversight of proof of residency should come first. Centralizing this documentary function with sufficient oversight and controls is the first step. The schools can report cases where families have skirted the law where it comes to their attention

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's well publicized that some people who commit crimes go to jail for a long time, but there's still plenty of crime - that's because criminals don't expect to get caught. Research consistently finds that "The certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment." (https://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx)

An out-of-district parent who knows of dozens of people who don't pay anything and a few who pay a lot, they are unlikely to be deterred. So while people who are caught shouldn't be let off the hook, the focus should be on removing out-of-district families.

Here's the other way to catch the scammers. Right now, many schools have a financial incentive not to worry about residency fraud. DC should make clear that if schools report fraud and expel scammers, that they will get to keep their funding and even get a bonus for each fraud case they uncover. On the other hand, if the fraud is uncovered by OSSE, then the school should lose 150% of the scammer's per pupil funding allotment. That will focus the principals on the problem damn quick.

This is a good idea that could be taken a step further, by offering admins major financial incentives to attract and retain in-boundary families. They currently have none. This is half the reason you see EotP schools, particularly on Cap Hill, where 2/3 of the students are OOB (and poor in largely gentrified neighborhoods). If you want to make a neighborhood school system work, you need provide principals with incentives to work to draw neighbors in.

red herring -- the concern here is residency fraud and out of district not out of boundary students, most of whom apply entirely by the rules through the lottery

Not to mention this would not apply to any city-wide DCPS or charter schools.

[Anonymous]

People should be openly shamed.

[Anonymous]

Yes, including the CSI vigilantes who take it upon themselves to shame and judge without being in command of all the facts.

Where people aren't ashamed, the bar for residency docs should be a good deal higher, and the investigations team should consist or more than one full-time investigator! Hire a dozen investigators and we'll see a big difference soon.

[Anonymous]

If we are looking everything here's what we have;

Va students attending D.C. public and charter schools

MD students attending D.C. public and charter schools

D.C. students attending (MD/VA schools) public schools



The issue is how many? I knew the students of parents and the students themselves who told me they lived in Md, or Va, That's not my job as an educator in the classroom. That's the job of the registration office and DCPS and or charters and OSSE to follow up and enforce. No one really wants to stop this as it's kinda of trade as some PG students attend D.C. schools. Some D.C. students attend PG and Montgomery county schools (Look at the schools near the boundary lines). Same for some in VA schools though that's harder due to having to cross bridge. It's a mess all around as each parent is looking for the best situation for their child. THus all sectors of the region is doing this and trust it's across the country as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we are looking everything here's what we have;

Va students attending D.C. public and charter schools

MD students attending D.C. public and charter schools

D.C. students attending (MD/VA schools) public schools



The issue is how many? I knew the students of parents and the students themselves who told me they lived in Md, or Va, That's not my job as an educator in the classroom. That's the job of the registration office and DCPS and or charters and OSSE to follow up and enforce. No one really wants to stop this as it's kinda of trade as some PG students attend D.C. schools. Some D.C. students attend PG and Montgomery county schools (Look at the schools near the boundary lines). Same for some in VA schools though that's harder due to having to cross bridge. It's a mess all around as each parent is looking for the best situation for their child. THus all sectors of the region is doing this and trust it's across the country as well.

Next time read the article. It makes it very clear that the surrounding counties do a good job of rooting out fraud and DC does a terrible job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If we are looking everything here's what we have;

Va students attending D.C. public and charter schools

MD students attending D.C. public and charter schools

D.C. students attending (MD/VA schools) public schools



The issue is how many? I knew the students of parents and the students themselves who told me they lived in Md, or Va, That's not my job as an educator in the classroom. That's the job of the registration office and DCPS and or charters and OSSE to follow up and enforce. No one really wants to stop this as it's kinda of trade as some PG students attend D.C. schools. Some D.C. students attend PG and Montgomery county schools (Look at the schools near the boundary lines). Same for some in VA schools though that's harder due to having to cross bridge. It's a mess all around as each parent is looking for the best situation for their child. THus all sectors of the region is doing this and trust it's across the country as well.

Next time read the article. It makes it very clear that the surrounding counties do a good job of rooting out fraud and DC does a terrible job.

Although according to this thread (starting on page 2) from the DCUM MD public schools board, people believe residency fraud is still common in MoCo. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/720166.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If we are looking everything here's what we have;

Va students attending D.C. public and charter schools

MD students attending D.C. public and charter schools

D.C. students attending (MD/VA schools) public schools



The issue is how many? I knew the students of parents and the students themselves who told me they lived in Md, or Va, That's not my job as an educator in the classroom. That's the job of the registration office and DCPS and or charters and OSSE to follow up and enforce. No one really wants to stop this as it's kinda of trade as some PG students attend D.C. schools. Some D.C. students attend PG and Montgomery county schools (Look at the schools near the boundary lines). Same for some in VA schools though that's harder due to having to cross bridge. It's a mess all around as each parent is looking for the best situation for their child. THus all sectors of the region is doing this and trust it's across the country as well.

Next time read the article. It makes it very clear that the surrounding counties do a good job of rooting out fraud and DC does a terrible job.

also, no one goes to virginia or maryland for pre-k. dc is a rare place that offers free pre-k, and it is a huge, huge benefits for residents. saves them $10K plus annually in daycare costs.