Duke Ellington note to families- 75 families already cleared by OSSE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

I also don't believe that kid, the dance/senior. wasn't living with his mom and her fiance in MD. So what if she had a DC license?

The explanation sounds more than a bit far-fetched to me: The parents/caregivers fell behind on their mortgages on the Maryland house, but some friends and family agreed to pay rent in MD while living there, and other family let the caregivers live in DC for free, while collecting rent on the MD property in order to catch up on the MD mortgage? So that way, there's no paper trail to prove the student was living in DC, and no paper trail to prove that friends/family were paying rent in MD?

If that's the explanation, then, just...wow.

Presumably everyone involved was willing to make sworn statements to the above -- with penalties if caught lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What have been identified as the core methods of residency fraud here? This should be a policy problem with a longer term solution.

It’s not all about residency per se. There’s also a lot of guardianship fraud, where parents claims a child lives with a relative when they do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

I also don't believe that kid, the dance/senior. wasn't living with his mom and her fiance in MD. So what if she had a DC license?

The explanation sounds more than a bit far-fetched to me: The parents/caregivers fell behind on their mortgages on the Maryland house, but some friends and family agreed to pay rent in MD while living there, and other family let the caregivers live in DC for free, while collecting rent on the MD property in order to catch up on the MD mortgage? So that way, there's no paper trail to prove the student was living in DC, and no paper trail to prove that friends/family were paying rent in MD?

If that's the explanation, then, just...wow.

Presumably everyone involved was willing to make sworn statements to the above -- with penalties if caught lying.

You could presume that, but none of the news coverage says the AG verified the existence of, let alone spoke to, let alone got statements under penalty of perjury from, these mystical informal tenants of Maryland.

And let's assume this really did happen--is the AG going to check whether these newly-verified DC resident Ellington families reported and paid taxes on the rent they got from their MD properties? Because somehow I'm guessing not all of them claimed that income...and that should lead to its own penalties.

[Anonymous]

Jeez, what a mess. They've netted a bunch of folks who've constructed lies to cover up lies, but it's hard not to feel some sympathy for them. Not well-off people, and lives ruined if all their lies are exposed. Plus, there's sure to be some parents who weren't willing to manufacture a fake explanation, and are willing to pay up because they can afford to pay up. If you're the government official overlooking this situation, how can you justify letting the poor folks go free but charging those who can afford to pay?

[Anonymous]

I feel no sympathy for them. Zero. They are liars and we all have to pay for their kids to go to school. Great job DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What have been identified as the core methods of residency fraud here? This should be a policy problem with a longer term solution.

It’s not all about residency per se. There’s also a lot of guardianship fraud, where parents claims a child lives with a relative when they do not.

I know of at least two students at my kid's EOTP elementary school that are doing this exact same scam. Stakes are significantly higher when it comes to a place in Ellington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What have been identified as the core methods of residency fraud here? This should be a policy problem with a longer term solution.

It’s not all about residency per se. There’s also a lot of guardianship fraud, where parents claims a child lives with a relative when they do not.

I know of at least two students at my kid's EOTP elementary school that are doing this exact same scam. Stakes are significantly higher when it comes to a place in Ellington.

Why? Fraud is fraud. And the longer someone is fraudulently in the system the more entitled to it they become -- and the harder it is to root out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

Apparently OSSE - DC AG's office - disagree with your conclusion.

The propensity in DC not to dig too deeply into fraud, graft, grift and corruption would make even a few Third World countries blush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

Apparently OSSE - DC AG's office - disagree with your conclusion.

The propensity in DC not to dig too deeply into fraud, graft, grift and corruption would make even a few Third World countries blush.

When folks live a lot of their lives hand-to-mouth and don't pay taxes, mortgage, and have others lie for them there is not much OSSE can do, they are not the court system. If they have been claiming benefits and other things in DC; however, fraudulently what can they do? Also, there is no time limit on residency not like at college, so they can claim residency as of now and can attend! The only ones who are gonna end up paying are the more honest ones and the ones with a legit job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:curious.. was the Ellington renovation really 200 MILLION dollars? If that is true, where did the money come from? taxpayers?

I've never seen publication of the final number. A year and a half before completion, news articles stated the figure as 180 Mil.

Search the archives. IT's been debated to death on other threads.

DC owns the Ellington building, managed the design and the renovation. The renovation was paid from the city's capital budget. Same budget that pays for every other DCPS renovation.

And the reason why, if your DC neighborhood school has not been renovated yet, DCPS suddenly has found cost-cutting religion. After Ellington, the cupboard is pretty bare. But don't fret. Some kid from PG County is getting an arts education in a Taj Mahal on your dime.

Can we stop this lie, please? The cost associated with Ellington includes the renovation of two other schools to serve as swing space while Ellington was being renovated. Those other two schools can now function, so DC got three schools out of that cost. It did not all go to renovating Ellington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

Apparently OSSE - DC AG's office - disagree with your conclusion.

The propensity in DC not to dig too deeply into fraud, graft, grift and corruption would make even a few Third World countries blush.

When folks live a lot of their lives hand-to-mouth and don't pay taxes, mortgage, and have others lie for them there is not much OSSE can do, they are not the court system. If they have been claiming benefits and other things in DC; however, fraudulently what can they do? Also, there is no time limit on residency not like at college, so they can claim residency as of now and can attend! The only ones who are gonna end up paying are the more honest ones and the ones with a legit job!

Well, might as well give up. Seems like you and OSSE are on the same page about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

Apparently OSSE - DC AG's office - disagree with your conclusion.

The propensity in DC not to dig too deeply into fraud, graft, grift and corruption would make even a few Third World countries blush.

When folks live a lot of their lives hand-to-mouth and don't pay taxes, mortgage, and have others lie for them there is not much OSSE can do, they are not the court system. If they have been claiming benefits and other things in DC; however, fraudulently what can they do? Also, there is no time limit on residency not like at college, so they can claim residency as of now and can attend! The only ones who are gonna end up paying are the more honest ones and the ones with a legit job!

Well, might as well give up. Seems like you and OSSE are on the same page about that.

No but I once worked for DC human services, the same thing. Almost most welfare recipients were working or had a side-hustle but to prove it is almost impossible. Recipients know how it works and bring in doctored leases, pay slips, all kinds of stuff but proving it is another matter. Government workers are not the police, they have to accept what is given and if it passes the rules then you have to accept it. If grandma has a legal court document to say grandson is living with her and she is the guardian, whether you believe it or not you can't challenge a court document. It's not like they are just lying to the school system for the most part ... there is only so much you can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

Apparently OSSE - DC AG's office - disagree with your conclusion.

The propensity in DC not to dig too deeply into fraud, graft, grift and corruption would make even a few Third World countries blush.

When folks live a lot of their lives hand-to-mouth and don't pay taxes, mortgage, and have others lie for them there is not much OSSE can do, they are not the court system. If they have been claiming benefits and other things in DC; however, fraudulently what can they do? Also, there is no time limit on residency not like at college, so they can claim residency as of now and can attend! The only ones who are gonna end up paying are the more honest ones and the ones with a legit job!

The worst is, a lot of fraudsters are DC government employees with good compensation and benefits. They play the system to find a school that is on their commuting route or favorable before/after care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Post: "Blaeuer said many of the families earlier lived in Maryland and fell behind on their mortgages after the Great Recession. They moved in with parents who have homes in the District, although they never signed formal leases. Some rented their Maryland homes to friends and family, formally or informally."

And if you believe this, I've got a bridge in PG County to sell you. This is a clear, after-the-fact attempt to obfuscate fraud.

Apparently OSSE - DC AG's office - disagree with your conclusion.

The propensity in DC not to dig too deeply into fraud, graft, grift and corruption would make even a few Third World countries blush.

When folks live a lot of their lives hand-to-mouth and don't pay taxes, mortgage, and have others lie for them there is not much OSSE can do, they are not the court system. If they have been claiming benefits and other things in DC; however, fraudulently what can they do? Also, there is no time limit on residency not like at college, so they can claim residency as of now and can attend! The only ones who are gonna end up paying are the more honest ones and the ones with a legit job!

Well, might as well give up. Seems like you and OSSE are on the same page about that.

No but I once worked for DC human services, the same thing. Almost most welfare recipients were working or had a side-hustle but to prove it is almost impossible. Recipients know how it works and bring in doctored leases, pay slips, all kinds of stuff but proving it is another matter. Government workers are not the police, they have to accept what is given and if it passes the rules then you have to accept it. If grandma has a legal court document to say grandson is living with her and she is the guardian, whether you believe it or not you can't challenge a court document. It's not like they are just lying to the school system for the most part ... there is only so much you can do.

Yes BUT one of the big problems is that guardianship under the residency rules does not require a court document at all. Just a letter or statement from parents that the kid is staying elsewhere. It’s sworn to in the sense that the whole residency package is signed under penalty of perjury. But the guardianship portion does not require court or other official documentation.

[Anonymous]

WAMU discussing residency fraud now on Kojo https://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2018-10-16/education-news-roundup-residency-fraud-and-accountability