Attorney General files suit against 16 people for school residency fraud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get how this works. How did these parents enroll their children in the first place without showing DC withholding?

When they were investigated, they couldn't produce DC tax returns for the last several years? Friends were investigated for residency fraud a few years back. They say they went down to the residency fraud office with certified tax returns for the last several years, as instructed, and were promptly cleared.

Is the real problem here that the parents didn't file DC income tax?

You don;t have to show a pay stub. You can show a license and a utility bill like I do as my pay stub does not contain an address.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I mean really, a false-claims act suit against a DC bus attendant who moved to MD? I get why these have to be done, but yeah ... harsh. I wish there were a better way. At a minimum, it seems really harsh to employ people in DC who can't afford to live here.

Come on, people are stealing 10s-100s of thousands of DC tax dollars for convenience and to game the system. I don't care what your income is- MD has the same services. It's not like they would go without.

It's not for convenience. Some parents are desperately trying to break the cycle of poverty and offer their kids a fighting chance.

When I first moved to the DMV the only place that I could afford was in PG County. When my child was ready for kindergarten, the local school options were horrific. Like 2+2=hot dog kinds of horrific. I began looking at charter and specialty schools, but they were only a notch above the other schools. I considered private, but got scared by the costs (before I knew that we would be eligible for FA), so we entered the DC lottery (with our real address and being completely transparent). We were admitted to a DC school and I began to inquire what I would need to do to pay the required tuition for out of state students. No. One. Knew. Not one staff member knew what to do. Because I didn't want to break the rules I ended up red-shirting my kid (August bday) and then I started talking to privates who helped me better understand that despite being well above the poverty level (although still poor in the DMV), I would still qualify for some financial aid. I pay what I would have paid if I was able to pay for the DC public school, but most people can't afford that.

Sorry, but that is a BS excuse. PG schools are no worse than the DC ones in this lawsuit. The difference is that DC offers free child care. Which we, DC residents, pay for, through taxes. It's expensive and not a social service for MD residents.

My life and the educational future of my kid is not a "BS excuse". I'm not sure which schools are listed in the lawsuit, but our options were schools that ranked #836 out of the 853 public elementary schools in the state of Maryland. It's my responsibility to give my child a fighting chance and while definitely ethically questionable, it's more like a case of a man with no money who steals bread to feed his family.

Are you sure that the *only* place you could afford to live was a place with horrible schools? Or was it that you didn't plan ahead adequately re: schools before you moved there?

Before moving here I was freshly divorced, homeless, and unemployed staying temporarily with a friend in Cecil County. After MANY months of searching in several states I finally got a job offer in DC and with extremely limited money took a small one bedroom apartment that I could afford. When I started to get back on my feet financially I looked for places in better areas/school districts and my rent would have TRIPLED for even a crappy 2 bedroom apartment in the city or Montgo.

Let me guess - you're a pro-lifer who then treats poor people like societal leeches when they fall on hard times, even temporarily. You and your judgement are what's wrong with this world and I'm done wasting energy on jerks like you.

Huh? Pro-lifer? Look, I'm sorry you fell on hard times, but most people who cheat are not necessarily in your circumstances, and I still don't accept that the *only* choice you had was to illegally send your child to school in DC. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive apts. in Silver Spring etc. that have higher-ranked schools than most of those in PG.

Did you even read??? I said that I DID NOT cheat and send my kid to a DC school as a Maryland resident. We're at an independent school where we receive financial aid and I pay a portion of the tuition. When we applied to DC schools I tried to pay the out of state tuition and no one knew what to do. So I kept my kid in daycare for an extra year while I found the private school that we're currently at.

So you did the right thing. So why would you defend people who are stealing?

You can have sympathy for people in need and still feel that it's wrong to steal.

Because people who have actually walked the walk are likely to be sympathetic to others, and not have your rigid sense that someone who is trying to get a good education for their kid is "stealing."

It is unquestionably stealing, their motives notwithstanding. And your attempt to portray all these people as modern day Jean Valjeans is absurd. They weren't starving, and had schools they could go to. Pulling on heartstrings indicates that you don't have a reasoned argument as to why MD kids should be permitted to attend DC schools, or why parents who willfully lie to cheat DC shouldn't be punished.

DC Pols literally gave away a public DC playing field to a private school. I'm definitely not getting exercised about moms sending their kids to DC schools.

Is that what you believe is a reasoned argument?

[Anonymous]

Love Racine. I hope he could also help with the Jellef- Maret debacle. Hope he runs for Mayor. Based on the job he has done so far, he would be much more effective than Bowser who seems to run DC like its her personal fiefdom.

[Anonymous]

Wow. We have homeless kids in DC who can't even travel safely to a school they are entitled to attend but I'm supposed to feel sympathy for these cheaters?

Get outta here with that mess.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I mean really, a false-claims act suit against a DC bus attendant who moved to MD? I get why these have to be done, but yeah ... harsh. I wish there were a better way. At a minimum, it seems really harsh to employ people in DC who can't afford to live here.

Come on, people are stealing 10s-100s of thousands of DC tax dollars for convenience and to game the system. I don't care what your income is- MD has the same services. It's not like they would go without.

It's not for convenience. Some parents are desperately trying to break the cycle of poverty and offer their kids a fighting chance.

When I first moved to the DMV the only place that I could afford was in PG County. When my child was ready for kindergarten, the local school options were horrific. Like 2+2=hot dog kinds of horrific. I began looking at charter and specialty schools, but they were only a notch above the other schools. I considered private, but got scared by the costs (before I knew that we would be eligible for FA), so we entered the DC lottery (with our real address and being completely transparent). We were admitted to a DC school and I began to inquire what I would need to do to pay the required tuition for out of state students. No. One. Knew. Not one staff member knew what to do. Because I didn't want to break the rules I ended up red-shirting my kid (August bday) and then I started talking to privates who helped me better understand that despite being well above the poverty level (although still poor in the DMV), I would still qualify for some financial aid. I pay what I would have paid if I was able to pay for the DC public school, but most people can't afford that.

Sorry, but that is a BS excuse. PG schools are no worse than the DC ones in this lawsuit. The difference is that DC offers free child care. Which we, DC residents, pay for, through taxes. It's expensive and not a social service for MD residents.

My life and the educational future of my kid is not a "BS excuse". I'm not sure which schools are listed in the lawsuit, but our options were schools that ranked #836 out of the 853 public elementary schools in the state of Maryland. It's my responsibility to give my child a fighting chance and while definitely ethically questionable, it's more like a case of a man with no money who steals bread to feed his family.

Are you sure that the *only* place you could afford to live was a place with horrible schools? Or was it that you didn't plan ahead adequately re: schools before you moved there?

Before moving here I was freshly divorced, homeless, and unemployed staying temporarily with a friend in Cecil County. After MANY months of searching in several states I finally got a job offer in DC and with extremely limited money took a small one bedroom apartment that I could afford. When I started to get back on my feet financially I looked for places in better areas/school districts and my rent would have TRIPLED for even a crappy 2 bedroom apartment in the city or Montgo.

Let me guess - you're a pro-lifer who then treats poor people like societal leeches when they fall on hard times, even temporarily. You and your judgement are what's wrong with this world and I'm done wasting energy on jerks like you.

Huh? Pro-lifer? Look, I'm sorry you fell on hard times, but most people who cheat are not necessarily in your circumstances, and I still don't accept that the *only* choice you had was to illegally send your child to school in DC. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive apts. in Silver Spring etc. that have higher-ranked schools than most of those in PG.

Did you even read??? I said that I DID NOT cheat and send my kid to a DC school as a Maryland resident. We're at an independent school where we receive financial aid and I pay a portion of the tuition. When we applied to DC schools I tried to pay the out of state tuition and no one knew what to do. So I kept my kid in daycare for an extra year while I found the private school that we're currently at.

So you did the right thing. So why would you defend people who are stealing?

You can have sympathy for people in need and still feel that it's wrong to steal.

Because people who have actually walked the walk are likely to be sympathetic to others, and not have your rigid sense that someone who is trying to get a good education for their kid is "stealing."

It is unquestionably stealing, their motives notwithstanding. And your attempt to portray all these people as modern day Jean Valjeans is absurd. They weren't starving, and had schools they could go to. Pulling on heartstrings indicates that you don't have a reasoned argument as to why MD kids should be permitted to attend DC schools, or why parents who willfully lie to cheat DC shouldn't be punished.

DC Pols literally gave away a public DC playing field to a private school. I'm definitely not getting exercised about moms sending their kids to DC schools.

Is that what you believe is a reasoned argument?

yes, I do. If you can't see the overarching unfairness of prosecuting poor/lower-class parents, then you're not much for analyzing structural inequities in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. We have homeless kids in DC who can't even travel safely to a school they are entitled to attend but I'm supposed to feel sympathy for these cheaters?

Get outta here with that mess.

let me tell you, suing a bus aide for treble damages is NOT going to mean that DC magically supports homeless kids better. that's not the way it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. We have homeless kids in DC who can't even travel safely to a school they are entitled to attend but I'm supposed to feel sympathy for these cheaters?

Get outta here with that mess.

let me tell you, suing a bus aide for treble damages is NOT going to mean that DC magically supports homeless kids better. that's not the way it works.

No. But it might stop the next bus aide and leave a slot open for a DC child experiencing homelessness.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I mean really, a false-claims act suit against a DC bus attendant who moved to MD? I get why these have to be done, but yeah ... harsh. I wish there were a better way. At a minimum, it seems really harsh to employ people in DC who can't afford to live here.

Come on, people are stealing 10s-100s of thousands of DC tax dollars for convenience and to game the system. I don't care what your income is- MD has the same services. It's not like they would go without.

It's not for convenience. Some parents are desperately trying to break the cycle of poverty and offer their kids a fighting chance.

When I first moved to the DMV the only place that I could afford was in PG County. When my child was ready for kindergarten, the local school options were horrific. Like 2+2=hot dog kinds of horrific. I began looking at charter and specialty schools, but they were only a notch above the other schools. I considered private, but got scared by the costs (before I knew that we would be eligible for FA), so we entered the DC lottery (with our real address and being completely transparent). We were admitted to a DC school and I began to inquire what I would need to do to pay the required tuition for out of state students. No. One. Knew. Not one staff member knew what to do. Because I didn't want to break the rules I ended up red-shirting my kid (August bday) and then I started talking to privates who helped me better understand that despite being well above the poverty level (although still poor in the DMV), I would still qualify for some financial aid. I pay what I would have paid if I was able to pay for the DC public school, but most people can't afford that.

Sorry, but that is a BS excuse. PG schools are no worse than the DC ones in this lawsuit. The difference is that DC offers free child care. Which we, DC residents, pay for, through taxes. It's expensive and not a social service for MD residents.

My life and the educational future of my kid is not a "BS excuse". I'm not sure which schools are listed in the lawsuit, but our options were schools that ranked #836 out of the 853 public elementary schools in the state of Maryland. It's my responsibility to give my child a fighting chance and while definitely ethically questionable, it's more like a case of a man with no money who steals bread to feed his family.

Are you sure that the *only* place you could afford to live was a place with horrible schools? Or was it that you didn't plan ahead adequately re: schools before you moved there?

Before moving here I was freshly divorced, homeless, and unemployed staying temporarily with a friend in Cecil County. After MANY months of searching in several states I finally got a job offer in DC and with extremely limited money took a small one bedroom apartment that I could afford. When I started to get back on my feet financially I looked for places in better areas/school districts and my rent would have TRIPLED for even a crappy 2 bedroom apartment in the city or Montgo.

Let me guess - you're a pro-lifer who then treats poor people like societal leeches when they fall on hard times, even temporarily. You and your judgement are what's wrong with this world and I'm done wasting energy on jerks like you.

Huh? Pro-lifer? Look, I'm sorry you fell on hard times, but most people who cheat are not necessarily in your circumstances, and I still don't accept that the *only* choice you had was to illegally send your child to school in DC. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive apts. in Silver Spring etc. that have higher-ranked schools than most of those in PG.

Did you even read??? I said that I DID NOT cheat and send my kid to a DC school as a Maryland resident. We're at an independent school where we receive financial aid and I pay a portion of the tuition. When we applied to DC schools I tried to pay the out of state tuition and no one knew what to do. So I kept my kid in daycare for an extra year while I found the private school that we're currently at.

So you did the right thing. So why would you defend people who are stealing?

You can have sympathy for people in need and still feel that it's wrong to steal.

Because people who have actually walked the walk are likely to be sympathetic to others, and not have your rigid sense that someone who is trying to get a good education for their kid is "stealing."

It is unquestionably stealing, their motives notwithstanding. And your attempt to portray all these people as modern day Jean Valjeans is absurd. They weren't starving, and had schools they could go to. Pulling on heartstrings indicates that you don't have a reasoned argument as to why MD kids should be permitted to attend DC schools, or why parents who willfully lie to cheat DC shouldn't be punished.

DC Pols literally gave away a public DC playing field to a private school. I'm definitely not getting exercised about moms sending their kids to DC schools.

Is that what you believe is a reasoned argument?

yes, I do. If you can't see the overarching unfairness of prosecuting poor/lower-class parents, then you're not much for analyzing structural inequities in this country.

So you feel that there should be an income line below which you cannot be prosecuted for crimes you commit? Please don't run for office.

[Anonymous]

And kids who are homeless have school options in MD. It's not like only DC can help homeless kids.

[Anonymous]

Not only is residency fraud affecting what taxpayers subsidize, it’s affecting how we build schools and allocate resources. Wards 7 and 8 have a lot of charter schools. I’ve worked in some of those schools as an outside contractor providing student services. At morning drop-off, so many of the car license plates are from MD. The children will tell you they live in MD too. New schools keep getting charters to build EotR because charter enrollment is crazy, but the counts don’t accurately reflect DC students.

I feel for these kids and their families. However, DC can’t fix PG’s problems and MD’s underinvestment in schools. (Where’d all that gambling $ go?) If Maryland would like to come up with a cooperative funding agreement with the city and a way to bring these families into the light so that we can better predict long-term enrollment trends, that might be a fair compromise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not only is residency fraud affecting what taxpayers subsidize, it’s affecting how we build schools and allocate resources. Wards 7 and 8 have a lot of charter schools. I’ve worked in some of those schools as an outside contractor providing student services. At morning drop-off, so many of the car license plates are from MD. The children will tell you they live in MD too. New schools keep getting charters to build EotR because charter enrollment is crazy, but the counts don’t accurately reflect DC students.

I feel for these kids and their families. However, DC can’t fix PG’s problems and MD’s underinvestment in schools. (Where’d all that gambling $ go?) If Maryland would like to come up with a cooperative funding agreement with the city and a way to bring these families into the light so that we can better predict long-term enrollment trends, that might be a fair compromise.

Do the children have 2 parents who both live in Maryland? Because even if they stay with one parent in Maryland every single day and night, their DC resident parent can enroll them. It's totally legal.

[Anonymous]

The 900 children in the DC foster care system, many of whom are living with foster parents in Maryland or Virginia, have the right to attend a public school in DC.

You just can't go by license plates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 900 children in the DC foster care system, many of whom are living with foster parents in Maryland or Virginia, have the right to attend a public school in DC.

You just can't go by license plates.

DCFA says about half live in Maryland. https://cfsa.dc.gov/service/become-foster-or-adoptive-parent

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I mean really, a false-claims act suit against a DC bus attendant who moved to MD? I get why these have to be done, but yeah ... harsh. I wish there were a better way. At a minimum, it seems really harsh to employ people in DC who can't afford to live here.

Come on, people are stealing 10s-100s of thousands of DC tax dollars for convenience and to game the system. I don't care what your income is- MD has the same services. It's not like they would go without.

It's not for convenience. Some parents are desperately trying to break the cycle of poverty and offer their kids a fighting chance.

When I first moved to the DMV the only place that I could afford was in PG County. When my child was ready for kindergarten, the local school options were horrific. Like 2+2=hot dog kinds of horrific. I began looking at charter and specialty schools, but they were only a notch above the other schools. I considered private, but got scared by the costs (before I knew that we would be eligible for FA), so we entered the DC lottery (with our real address and being completely transparent). We were admitted to a DC school and I began to inquire what I would need to do to pay the required tuition for out of state students. No. One. Knew. Not one staff member knew what to do. Because I didn't want to break the rules I ended up red-shirting my kid (August bday) and then I started talking to privates who helped me better understand that despite being well above the poverty level (although still poor in the DMV), I would still qualify for some financial aid. I pay what I would have paid if I was able to pay for the DC public school, but most people can't afford that.

Sorry, but that is a BS excuse. PG schools are no worse than the DC ones in this lawsuit. The difference is that DC offers free child care. Which we, DC residents, pay for, through taxes. It's expensive and not a social service for MD residents.

My life and the educational future of my kid is not a "BS excuse". I'm not sure which schools are listed in the lawsuit, but our options were schools that ranked #836 out of the 853 public elementary schools in the state of Maryland. It's my responsibility to give my child a fighting chance and while definitely ethically questionable, it's more like a case of a man with no money who steals bread to feed his family.

Are you sure that the *only* place you could afford to live was a place with horrible schools? Or was it that you didn't plan ahead adequately re: schools before you moved there?

Before moving here I was freshly divorced, homeless, and unemployed staying temporarily with a friend in Cecil County. After MANY months of searching in several states I finally got a job offer in DC and with extremely limited money took a small one bedroom apartment that I could afford. When I started to get back on my feet financially I looked for places in better areas/school districts and my rent would have TRIPLED for even a crappy 2 bedroom apartment in the city or Montgo.

Let me guess - you're a pro-lifer who then treats poor people like societal leeches when they fall on hard times, even temporarily. You and your judgement are what's wrong with this world and I'm done wasting energy on jerks like you.

Huh? Pro-lifer? Look, I'm sorry you fell on hard times, but most people who cheat are not necessarily in your circumstances, and I still don't accept that the *only* choice you had was to illegally send your child to school in DC. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive apts. in Silver Spring etc. that have higher-ranked schools than most of those in PG.

Did you even read??? I said that I DID NOT cheat and send my kid to a DC school as a Maryland resident. We're at an independent school where we receive financial aid and I pay a portion of the tuition. When we applied to DC schools I tried to pay the out of state tuition and no one knew what to do. So I kept my kid in daycare for an extra year while I found the private school that we're currently at.

So you did the right thing. So why would you defend people who are stealing?

You can have sympathy for people in need and still feel that it's wrong to steal.

Because people who have actually walked the walk are likely to be sympathetic to others, and not have your rigid sense that someone who is trying to get a good education for their kid is "stealing."

It is unquestionably stealing, their motives notwithstanding. And your attempt to portray all these people as modern day Jean Valjeans is absurd. They weren't starving, and had schools they could go to. Pulling on heartstrings indicates that you don't have a reasoned argument as to why MD kids should be permitted to attend DC schools, or why parents who willfully lie to cheat DC shouldn't be punished.

DC Pols literally gave away a public DC playing field to a private school. I'm definitely not getting exercised about moms sending their kids to DC schools.

Is that what you believe is a reasoned argument?

yes, I do. If you can't see the overarching unfairness of prosecuting poor/lower-class parents, then you're not much for analyzing structural inequities in this country.

Again, you are appealing to emotions, and not addressing the core issues here. I repeat - why should DC permit MD kids to attend DC schools free of charge? Should the kids be permitted to stay in the schools? Shouldn't DC funds be directed toward DC residents, many of whom are in much more dire straits than the parents/kids described in the complaints?

Schools aren't operated or funded on a national basis, and it is not DC's responsibility, or in its interest, to try to address cross-jurisdictional "structural inequities." We already bear a disproportionate share of of responsibility for the homeless in the region; we're not taking on the education of suburban kids as well.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I mean really, a false-claims act suit against a DC bus attendant who moved to MD? I get why these have to be done, but yeah ... harsh. I wish there were a better way. At a minimum, it seems really harsh to employ people in DC who can't afford to live here.

Come on, people are stealing 10s-100s of thousands of DC tax dollars for convenience and to game the system. I don't care what your income is- MD has the same services. It's not like they would go without.

It's not for convenience. Some parents are desperately trying to break the cycle of poverty and offer their kids a fighting chance.

When I first moved to the DMV the only place that I could afford was in PG County. When my child was ready for kindergarten, the local school options were horrific. Like 2+2=hot dog kinds of horrific. I began looking at charter and specialty schools, but they were only a notch above the other schools. I considered private, but got scared by the costs (before I knew that we would be eligible for FA), so we entered the DC lottery (with our real address and being completely transparent). We were admitted to a DC school and I began to inquire what I would need to do to pay the required tuition for out of state students. No. One. Knew. Not one staff member knew what to do. Because I didn't want to break the rules I ended up red-shirting my kid (August bday) and then I started talking to privates who helped me better understand that despite being well above the poverty level (although still poor in the DMV), I would still qualify for some financial aid. I pay what I would have paid if I was able to pay for the DC public school, but most people can't afford that.

Sorry, but that is a BS excuse. PG schools are no worse than the DC ones in this lawsuit. The difference is that DC offers free child care. Which we, DC residents, pay for, through taxes. It's expensive and not a social service for MD residents.

My life and the educational future of my kid is not a "BS excuse". I'm not sure which schools are listed in the lawsuit, but our options were schools that ranked #836 out of the 853 public elementary schools in the state of Maryland. It's my responsibility to give my child a fighting chance and while definitely ethically questionable, it's more like a case of a man with no money who steals bread to feed his family.

Are you sure that the *only* place you could afford to live was a place with horrible schools? Or was it that you didn't plan ahead adequately re: schools before you moved there?

Before moving here I was freshly divorced, homeless, and unemployed staying temporarily with a friend in Cecil County. After MANY months of searching in several states I finally got a job offer in DC and with extremely limited money took a small one bedroom apartment that I could afford. When I started to get back on my feet financially I looked for places in better areas/school districts and my rent would have TRIPLED for even a crappy 2 bedroom apartment in the city or Montgo.

Let me guess - you're a pro-lifer who then treats poor people like societal leeches when they fall on hard times, even temporarily. You and your judgement are what's wrong with this world and I'm done wasting energy on jerks like you.

Huh? Pro-lifer? Look, I'm sorry you fell on hard times, but most people who cheat are not necessarily in your circumstances, and I still don't accept that the *only* choice you had was to illegally send your child to school in DC. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive apts. in Silver Spring etc. that have higher-ranked schools than most of those in PG.

Did you even read??? I said that I DID NOT cheat and send my kid to a DC school as a Maryland resident. We're at an independent school where we receive financial aid and I pay a portion of the tuition. When we applied to DC schools I tried to pay the out of state tuition and no one knew what to do. So I kept my kid in daycare for an extra year while I found the private school that we're currently at.

So you did the right thing. So why would you defend people who are stealing?

You can have sympathy for people in need and still feel that it's wrong to steal.

Because people who have actually walked the walk are likely to be sympathetic to others, and not have your rigid sense that someone who is trying to get a good education for their kid is "stealing."

It is unquestionably stealing, their motives notwithstanding. And your attempt to portray all these people as modern day Jean Valjeans is absurd. They weren't starving, and had schools they could go to. Pulling on heartstrings indicates that you don't have a reasoned argument as to why MD kids should be permitted to attend DC schools, or why parents who willfully lie to cheat DC shouldn't be punished.

DC Pols literally gave away a public DC playing field to a private school. I'm definitely not getting exercised about moms sending their kids to DC schools.

Is that what you believe is a reasoned argument?

yes, I do. If you can't see the overarching unfairness of prosecuting poor/lower-class parents, then you're not much for analyzing structural inequities in this country.

Again, you are appealing to emotions, and not addressing the core issues here. I repeat - why should DC permit MD kids to attend DC schools free of charge? Should the kids be permitted to stay in the schools? Shouldn't DC funds be directed toward DC residents, many of whom are in much more dire straits than the parents/kids described in the complaints?

Schools aren't operated or funded on a national basis, and it is not DC's responsibility, or in its interest, to try to address cross-jurisdictional "structural inequities." We already bear a disproportionate share of of responsibility for the homeless in the region; we're not taking on the education of suburban kids as well.

And how do you think prosecutorial decisions are made? Emotion, values. Don't be naive. I can both think that it's acceptable to try to limit DC schools to DC taxpayers, and that I don't approve of bringing the hammer down on poor moms whose crime is sending their kids to school.