First day drop off -- MD tags

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Helping out at our school a couple of years ago, I was given the address of a family, which turned out to be a cleaning / shoe repair place. I told the principal, who appeared to be reluctant to say anything. I assumed it was fraud, but later learned that the family is/was homeless, and the principal didn't want to say anything to protect their privacy.

The point is: sometimes getting on your high horse and charging over nothing can be a real jerk move.

PS. Occasionally we have a nanny pick up our kids - sometimes it's in our car (DC plates) and sometime in her car (VA plates). I'd love to see one of you get in a tizzy over that.

MD or VA license plates are not conclusive proof of anything. But they should be considered, especially on a repeated basis, to be red flags for possible residency fraud, requiring follow up by the principal and DCPS. In this case you acted properly and it would seem that the principal handled it. There can be lots of plausible, and legal, explanations for particular cars with non-DC registrations, in which students ride to school. But the sheer volume of Maryland plated cars every day at certain DC public schools and charters strongly points to a significant, ongoing cheating problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those numbers don't point to a huge issue for me. Much lIke drug testing welfare recipients, you spend a lot in an attempt to recoup from.a few. It probably costs more to investigate this supposed fraud than it does to find the minority of cheaters in investigated cases. Furthermore, your broad-ranging and wildly offensive comments about how "those people" need to go to chruches in their own communities has pretty much tainted the well.

There are multiple posters here, you're not debating with one person.

As for the wildly offensive comments about DC's commuter churches, I don't know where you live, but for the people in DC who live very close to one of the commuter churches in densely populated neighborhoods, it's an issue. I don't know about WaPo but the commuter church phenomenon and the related parking issue have been covered in the city paper, in the PoPville blog, other local blogs. Some of the people complaining about the illegal parking are black BTW, generally younger, with different views on religion, urban living. It's not strictly a white gentrifier versus black native washingtonian thing. My sense is that this thread is your first time encountering this church issue, so maybe you have not had the best introduction to it.

I'm not the PP, but wondering why bring up churches at all in this context? IIRC, the poster who first brought it up said it's about people who don't like the changes that have been happening in their neighborhood. So...yeah, that's white gentrifier versus black native Washingtonian thing.

I've lived in DC 20+ years, and for the last 11, endured four churches within a two block radius of my house. Yes, Sundays are annoying and possibly dangerous. It's not because the drivers are MD residents with a deep psychological need to break the law (I mean, seriously? WTF.) It's because they're old.

Go anywhere in the city, or suburbs for that matter, and it's like Final Destination on Sunday mornings with all the drivers who took their license exam in the 1950s out on the road. One of the worst places I've experienced it is upper Connecticut Avenue.

But what does it have to do with residency cheaters?

Nothing. It's a distraction away from the main issue, residency fraud, which the DC school leadership and bureaucracy has yet to take seriously. In this time of way-oversubscribed school lotteries, budget cuts and other challenges, the theft of spots and resources from our public and charter schools is a crime -- legally and morally.

But if you're already going to the school where the alleged residency cheaters are enrolled, then you're not a victim of it -- because your kid has a spot. So why not leave it to the people who have seen the residency verification paperwork to determine whether there's cheating going on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess this is what you get living in a good area like Capitol Hill. Cut through traffic from PG that takes up parking and school slots and locks down parking on Sundays. Makes we wonder who's neighborhood it really is?

Yeah, this sense of MD'ers entitlement to "their" old neighborhood is truly astounding. Their family made a mint selling to the gentrifying white professionals, yet now they continue to use the neighborhood for socializing, getting free daycare, and educating their kids without paying ANY of the requisite taxes.

It's like a low-rent for of tax sheltering. I guess they learned the game by watching corporate America.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those numbers don't point to a huge issue for me. Much lIke drug testing welfare recipients, you spend a lot in an attempt to recoup from.a few. It probably costs more to investigate this supposed fraud than it does to find the minority of cheaters in investigated cases. Furthermore, your broad-ranging and wildly offensive comments about how "those people" need to go to chruches in their own communities has pretty much tainted the well.

There are multiple posters here, you're not debating with one person.

As for the wildly offensive comments about DC's commuter churches, I don't know where you live, but for the people in DC who live very close to one of the commuter churches in densely populated neighborhoods, it's an issue. I don't know about WaPo but the commuter church phenomenon and the related parking issue have been covered in the city paper, in the PoPville blog, other local blogs. Some of the people complaining about the illegal parking are black BTW, generally younger, with different views on religion, urban living. It's not strictly a white gentrifier versus black native washingtonian thing. My sense is that this thread is your first time encountering this church issue, so maybe you have not had the best introduction to it.

I'm not the PP, but wondering why bring up churches at all in this context? IIRC, the poster who first brought it up said it's about people who don't like the changes that have been happening in their neighborhood. So...yeah, that's white gentrifier versus black native Washingtonian thing.

I've lived in DC 20+ years, and for the last 11, endured four churches within a two block radius of my house. Yes, Sundays are annoying and possibly dangerous. It's not because the drivers are MD residents with a deep psychological need to break the law (I mean, seriously? WTF.) It's because they're old.

Go anywhere in the city, or suburbs for that matter, and it's like Final Destination on Sunday mornings with all the drivers who took their license exam in the 1950s out on the road. One of the worst places I've experienced it is upper Connecticut Avenue.

But what does it have to do with residency cheaters?

Nothing. It's a distraction away from the main issue, residency fraud, which the DC school leadership and bureaucracy has yet to take seriously. In this time of way-oversubscribed school lotteries, budget cuts and other challenges, the theft of spots and resources from our public and charter schools is a crime -- legally and morally.

But if you're already going to the school where the alleged residency cheaters are enrolled, then you're not a victim of it -- because your kid has a spot. So why not leave it to the people who have seen the residency verification paperwork to determine whether there's cheating going on?

That's absurd. The parent who didn't get his kid into Murch is supposed to record the license plates at Murch??? No.
The parents of the school should be the ones reporting the fraud.

Frankly, I think MANY of the principals are actively turning a blind eye to the fraud. They know what's happening. My guess is that some are slipped cash while others have family/friends participating in the fraud. It's the whole big system, where they think it's all a big joke to pull the wool over the eyes of local residents and DC taxpayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess this is what you get living in a good area like Capitol Hill. Cut through traffic from PG that takes up parking and school slots and locks down parking on Sundays. Makes we wonder who's neighborhood it really is?

Yeah, this sense of MD'ers entitlement to "their" old neighborhood is truly astounding. Their family made a mint selling to the gentrifying white professionals, yet now they continue to use the neighborhood for socializing, getting free daycare, and educating their kids without paying ANY of the requisite taxes.

It's like a low-rent for of tax sheltering. I guess they learned the game by watching corporate America.

So I wonder if you get offended at all when speculation like this goes in the opposite direction. Namely, that white gentrifiers are benefiting from "The Plan" to rid DC of all black people. Because you sound just as ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess this is what you get living in a good area like Capitol Hill. Cut through traffic from PG that takes up parking and school slots and locks down parking on Sundays. Makes we wonder who's neighborhood it really is?

Yeah, this sense of MD'ers entitlement to "their" old neighborhood is truly astounding. Their family made a mint selling to the gentrifying white professionals, yet now they continue to use the neighborhood for socializing, getting free daycare, and educating their kids without paying ANY of the requisite taxes.

It's like a low-rent for of tax sheltering. I guess they learned the game by watching corporate America.

So I wonder if you get offended at all when speculation like this goes in the opposite direction. Namely, that white gentrifiers are benefiting from "The Plan" to rid DC of all black people. Because you sound just as ignorant.

White person here:
"The Plan" is real. However, it was never about getting rid of Blacks. That was just a byproduct of the dysfunction. Instead, it was about sending real estate values into the toilet so local businessmen could buy cheap at rock bottom prices and redevelop with federal subsidies. Many of those real estate business interests are wealthy, well educated Blacks. H Street is a prime example - much of it was/is owned by a few prominent Black families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess this is what you get living in a good area like Capitol Hill. Cut through traffic from PG that takes up parking and school slots and locks down parking on Sundays. Makes we wonder who's neighborhood it really is?

Yeah, this sense of MD'ers entitlement to "their" old neighborhood is truly astounding. Their family made a mint selling to the gentrifying white professionals, yet now they continue to use the neighborhood for socializing, getting free daycare, and educating their kids without paying ANY of the requisite taxes.

It's like a low-rent for of tax sheltering. I guess they learned the game by watching corporate America.

So I wonder if you get offended at all when speculation like this goes in the opposite direction. Namely, that white gentrifiers are benefiting from "The Plan" to rid DC of all black people. Because you sound just as ignorant.

White person here:
"The Plan" is real. However, it was never about getting rid of Blacks. That was just a byproduct of the dysfunction. Instead, it was about sending real estate values into the toilet so local businessmen could buy cheap at rock bottom prices and redevelop with federal subsidies. Many of those real estate business interests are wealthy, well educated Blacks. H Street is a prime example - much of it was/is owned by a few prominent Black families.

And the supposed precondition to The Plan, DC's dysfunction was brought about by the corruption and incompetence of Marion Barry and his crowd. So does this mean that the late mayor-for-life was the architect of The Plan?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those numbers don't point to a huge issue for me. Much lIke drug testing welfare recipients, you spend a lot in an attempt to recoup from.a few. It probably costs more to investigate this supposed fraud than it does to find the minority of cheaters in investigated cases. Furthermore, your broad-ranging and wildly offensive comments about how "those people" need to go to chruches in their own communities has pretty much tainted the well.

There are multiple posters here, you're not debating with one person.

As for the wildly offensive comments about DC's commuter churches, I don't know where you live, but for the people in DC who live very close to one of the commuter churches in densely populated neighborhoods, it's an issue. I don't know about WaPo but the commuter church phenomenon and the related parking issue have been covered in the city paper, in the PoPville blog, other local blogs. Some of the people complaining about the illegal parking are black BTW, generally younger, with different views on religion, urban living. It's not strictly a white gentrifier versus black native washingtonian thing. My sense is that this thread is your first time encountering this church issue, so maybe you have not had the best introduction to it.

I'm not the PP, but wondering why bring up churches at all in this context? IIRC, the poster who first brought it up said it's about people who don't like the changes that have been happening in their neighborhood. So...yeah, that's white gentrifier versus black native Washingtonian thing.

I've lived in DC 20+ years, and for the last 11, endured four churches within a two block radius of my house. Yes, Sundays are annoying and possibly dangerous. It's not because the drivers are MD residents with a deep psychological need to break the law (I mean, seriously? WTF.) It's because they're old.

Go anywhere in the city, or suburbs for that matter, and it's like Final Destination on Sunday mornings with all the drivers who took their license exam in the 1950s out on the road. One of the worst places I've experienced it is upper Connecticut Avenue.

But what does it have to do with residency cheaters?

Nothing. It's a distraction away from the main issue, residency fraud, which the DC school leadership and bureaucracy has yet to take seriously. In this time of way-oversubscribed school lotteries, budget cuts and other challenges, the theft of spots and resources from our public and charter schools is a crime -- legally and morally.

But if you're already going to the school where the alleged residency cheaters are enrolled, then you're not a victim of it -- because your kid has a spot. So why not leave it to the people who have seen the residency verification paperwork to determine whether there's cheating going on?

Because, as a taxpayer, I'm offended to be getting ripped off. And as a citizen, I'm offended that some deserving kid has had his spot stolen by a fraudster family. It doesn't matter if it's not my child. Fraud victimizes everyone (in DC).

[Anonymous]

At Deal there are many cars each morning w md and va tags. It is really frustrating because it is overcrowded

[Anonymous]

No. It is frustrating that you are so narrow minded and obsessed with the thought that someone is cheating you out of some thing that you already hhave. You make up boogeyman to scare you in the dark: the numbers posted for fraud investigation did NOT actually point to a ton of fraud. Quite the opposite. Families are also, as many have indicated here, sometimes fluid things. A child might be perfectly obligated to go to a dc school, and still have someone with "out of state" plates driving them thete. Either you are the kind of person who gets their jollies off of having four year olds investigated for possible residence fraud--or you are not. Which one are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. It is frustrating that you are so narrow minded and obsessed with the thought that someone is cheating you out of some thing that you already hhave. You make up boogeyman to scare you in the dark: the numbers posted for fraud investigation did NOT actually point to a ton of fraud. Quite the opposite. Families are also, as many have indicated here, sometimes fluid things. A child might be perfectly obligated to go to a dc school, and still have someone with "out of state" plates driving them thete. Either you are the kind of person who gets their jollies off of having four year olds investigated for possible residence fraud--or you are not. Which one are you?

PP, personally I think you're an idiot and a DCPS troll (which may be redundant). There is a lot of blatant residency fraud, and the principals need to be out there taking note when an out-of-state car pulls up with a kid to drop off. It's not conclusive evidence of fraud, but it sure needs a second look. Just saying that I got 2 pieces of paper from the family substantiating residence isn't enough when there's a red flag out there, i.e. a car with Md. tags dropping off a student. As previously posted, there aren't out-of-state nannies dropping off kids EoTP - over here we walk if we actually live here.

Fraud in DCPS affects all DC residents, because WE PAY FOR IT. But you probably live in Md. anyhow and wouldn't dare send your kids to the very same schools you work for. Be a public servant, get off you azz, and make sure the law is followed. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I should start keeping track at Stuart Hobson. It's truly ridiculous the number of MD tags.

Please do keep track and post updates here. Count the cars. This site gets more traction than you'd think. I'm liking the Amidon-Bowen updates, and hope they keep coming. People need to care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. It is frustrating that you are so narrow minded and obsessed with the thought that someone is cheating you out of some thing that you already hhave. You make up boogeyman to scare you in the dark: the numbers posted for fraud investigation did NOT actually point to a ton of fraud. Quite the opposite. Families are also, as many have indicated here, sometimes fluid things. A child might be perfectly obligated to go to a dc school, and still have someone with "out of state" plates driving them thete. Either you are the kind of person who gets their jollies off of having four year olds investigated for possible residence fraud--or you are not. Which one are you?

PP, personally I think you're an idiot and a DCPS troll (which may be redundant). There is a lot of blatant residency fraud, and the principals need to be out there taking note when an out-of-state car pulls up with a kid to drop off. It's not conclusive evidence of fraud, but it sure needs a second look. Just saying that I got 2 pieces of paper from the family substantiating residence isn't enough when there's a red flag out there, i.e. a car with Md. tags dropping off a student. As previously posted, there aren't out-of-state nannies dropping off kids EoTP - over here we walk if we actually live here.

Fraud in DCPS affects all DC residents, because WE PAY FOR IT. But you probably live in Md. anyhow and wouldn't dare send your kids to the very same schools you work for. Be a public servant, get off you azz, and make sure the law is followed. Thank you.

People have posted many categories of students who live in MD and legally attend DC school (kids in kinship care, foster care, or who are homeless which includes doubled up in housing). They've also posted that many kids who technically live in DC may be riding in MD cars because of joint custody and grandparents providing child care. Nannies are one of many reasons, and the only reason on the list that's more likely to apply WOTP than EOTP.

Yes, I'm sure there is fraud. But that doesn't mean that every single or even the majority who come to school in DC in MD cars are committing fraud. In addition, many of our most vulnerable kids, especially homeless kids, are in this category. Harassing them isn't the solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. It is frustrating that you are so narrow minded and obsessed with the thought that someone is cheating you out of some thing that you already hhave. You make up boogeyman to scare you in the dark: the numbers posted for fraud investigation did NOT actually point to a ton of fraud. Quite the opposite. Families are also, as many have indicated here, sometimes fluid things. A child might be perfectly obligated to go to a dc school, and still have someone with "out of state" plates driving them thete. Either you are the kind of person who gets their jollies off of having four year olds investigated for possible residence fraud--or you are not. Which one are you?

PP, personally I think you're an idiot and a DCPS troll (which may be redundant). There is a lot of blatant residency fraud, and the principals need to be out there taking note when an out-of-state car pulls up with a kid to drop off. It's not conclusive evidence of fraud, but it sure needs a second look. Just saying that I got 2 pieces of paper from the family substantiating residence isn't enough when there's a red flag out there, i.e. a car with Md. tags dropping off a student. As previously posted, there aren't out-of-state nannies dropping off kids EoTP - over here we walk if we actually live here.

Fraud in DCPS affects all DC residents, because WE PAY FOR IT. But you probably live in Md. anyhow and wouldn't dare send your kids to the very same schools you work for. Be a public servant, get off you azz, and make sure the law is followed. Thank you.

People have posted many categories of students who live in MD and legally attend DC school (kids in kinship care, foster care, or who are homeless which includes doubled up in housing). They've also posted that many kids who technically live in DC may be riding in MD cars because of joint custody and grandparents providing child care. Nannies are one of many reasons, and the only reason on the list that's more likely to apply WOTP than EOTP.

Yes, I'm sure there is fraud. But that doesn't mean that every single or even the majority who come to school in DC in MD cars are committing fraud. In addition, many of our most vulnerable kids, especially homeless kids, are in this category. Harassing them isn't the solution.

Inquiring into a student's actual residence is not harassment, where there is is valid question whether he/she is a DC resident. There are in many instances valid reasons why a student would arrive and leave regularly in a MD car. But there is no question that there is residency fraud that is widespread in certain schools. And let the authorities sort out whether there are valid reasons, rather than offering speculative excuses for everyone. I doubt very much that the well-dressed kids who I have seen arrive daily in a late model car with MD plates with someone who is clearly appears to be their parent are homeless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At Deal there are many cars each morning w md and va tags. It is really frustrating because it is overcrowded

To hazard a guess, I would say 5 to 10 percent of Deal students live in Maryland. I know of a MD lady who was quite proud of the fact that she got her kids into feeders to Deal and Wilson.