School residency cheaters investigated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And:

"The D.C. government has a long track record of turning a blind eye as city money fraudulently flows to Prince George’s County, Maryland. One reason for that may be the D.C. government is controlled by Maryland residents: 16,400 of the employees who run D.C. reside in Maryland — overwhelmingly in Prince George’s County. This us compared with the 15,800 who actually live in the city that employs them, according to information the D.C. government gave TheDCNF as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request. Only 3,600 live in Virginia.

The Maryland zip code where the most city employees live has a median household income of $95,000, far higher than the median household income of D.C. residents, which is $72,000. This refutes a claim frequently repeated by city employees that they should be paid more because they can’t afford to live in D.C."

This is JAW DROPPING (if true.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Today's article is perhaps the most damning yet -- strongly suggesting that a lot of the DC government is being run by and for certain level DC government employees, their family members and their friends, a lot of whom happen to live in Maryland. It's like the old Soviet system in which it was all about the Nomenklatura.

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And:

"The D.C. government has a long track record of turning a blind eye as city money fraudulently flows to Prince George’s County, Maryland. One reason for that may be the D.C. government is controlled by Maryland residents: 16,400 of the employees who run D.C. reside in Maryland — overwhelmingly in Prince George’s County. This us compared with the 15,800 who actually live in the city that employs them, according to information the D.C. government gave TheDCNF as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request. Only 3,600 live in Virginia.

The Maryland zip code where the most city employees live has a median household income of $95,000, far higher than the median household income of D.C. residents, which is $72,000. This refutes a claim frequently repeated by city employees that they should be paid more because they can’t afford to live in D.C."

it's housing costs that matter, not median income.

So their median income changed when they decided to lie in MD instead of DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed -- the Caller's reporters found data on cheating that every informed person should know, for example:

"Ellington has 525 students and 40 — nearly a tenth of the school — disclose they live in Maryland. Those students’ families owed a total of $463,200 in tuition, but local officials collected only $163,249, or 35 percent."

This is simply flat-out stealing.

And remember... this 10% reflects the number of students who actually disclose that they live in Maryland and (at least in theory) have the obligation to pay tuition. Now contemplate the other Maryland students whose parents choose to fly below the radar, pretend that they are DC residents and engage in residency fraud. It's mind boggling. And this is at one school -- one whose renovation costs have ballooned from $78 million to $200 million and climbing for just over 500 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/07/maryland-parent-uses-dc-apartment-to-prove-residency-so-kids-attend-district-schools/ The latest installment.

Why would she agree to speak with the reporters and be so candid/flippant?

Because she thinks what she is doing is common, clever, respectable, and 'legitimate.'

Exactly. I have coworkers who talk freely about fraudulently attending DC schools, receiving WIC/Food Stamps, etc. There is no stigma whatsoever about fraud.

Where do you work and what is your profession where people speak so boldly about their personal lives- multiple people especially.

I work in SE DC in a social services profession.

And your social service workers are talking to you about frauds fly receiving social services. I don't believe it, knowing the risk of losing their jobs. Your story stinks of falsehoods.

Believe what you want-or need-to believe. I live in MD so the residency fraud doesn't impact me too much, so whatever. What currently irritates me is the woman who gets WIC. She may possibly qualify on her own, but her husband works for Metro. Anyway the point is that this type of fraud is not looked down upon in any way. It shocked me at first, but I see how deeply ingrained it is. These are not bad people committing this fraud, just regular people who feel like they are entitled to certain benefits they see others getting.

Unfortunately there is a pervasive culture of corruption. And fraud is a cimr.

[Anonymous]

And fraud is a crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, again very annoying that Duke Ellington, which is costing an arm and a leg to renovated, is NOT collecting money from the MD residents enrolled in the school. This school system is a hot mess.

Yup, and Duke Ellington's $200M renovation (cost overruns to date of approx. $122M!) is sucking all of the oxygen out of the room, meaning it's resulting in cuts and postponements to other school renovation projects around DC, like Murch. And bear in mind that this school that officially has 10 % Maryland students (and those are just the ones who declare themselves as Marylanders), has zero representatives of the DC mayor, council or schools chancellor on its board, despite getting all of its capital funding and more than 80% of its operating funding from DC taxpayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem will be fixed when we have a Mayor interested in making sure the Chancellor pushes to fix the problem. Because there has been little to no action on this subject, we can infer the Mayor does not believe her constituents would be happy if she enforced the law.

This x 1000
The Mayor and the Council could crack down on the issue and save a bundle of money for DCPS. But they don't; why not?
There obviously must be a political benefit to allowing these fraudulent families to siphon DC tax dollars. MD residents don't vote in DC elections, so it's not their votes.

Perhaps pols are worried about a public sector union strike? My best guess is that it's tied into DC's churches and the power of pastors to GOTV. The pastors' "flock" now comes from all over the region.

Here's another part of the answer. Remember that Marion Barry used to say that a lot of his constituency had moved to PG county.

"Politicians in the city may even have an electoral reason not to anger Maryland fraudsters. Some 13,000 names are on the voter rolls in both Prince George’s County and D.C., even though D.C. receives a notification when they register in Maryland and is supposed to remove them, according to a 2013 investigation by The Washington Times.

Politicos in the eastern part of the District say it’s common for former D.C. residents to still vote there.

“It happens a lot,” Ward 7 activist Geraldine Washington told The Washington Times. “I know of people who still vote in their old address after they’ve moved [out of the District]. I mean years after. They do that a lot.'"


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/10/dc-government-chooses-maryland-kids-over-tax-paying-residents-for-school-slots/#ixzz4E6xZU3lI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And:

"The D.C. government has a long track record of turning a blind eye as city money fraudulently flows to Prince George’s County, Maryland. One reason for that may be the D.C. government is controlled by Maryland residents: 16,400 of the employees who run D.C. reside in Maryland — overwhelmingly in Prince George’s County. This us compared with the 15,800 who actually live in the city that employs them, according to information the D.C. government gave TheDCNF as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request. Only 3,600 live in Virginia.

The Maryland zip code where the most city employees live has a median household income of $95,000, far higher than the median household income of D.C. residents, which is $72,000. This refutes a claim frequently repeated by city employees that they should be paid more because they can’t afford to live in D.C."

This is JAW DROPPING (if true.)

OF COURSE it's true. What's jaw-dropping is that only Republicans (Daily Caller is nothing of not Republican) will actually tell the truth. This corruption-riddled Democrat-machine town would rather live with corruption than admit to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today's article is perhaps the most damning yet -- strongly suggesting that a lot of the DC government is being run by and for certain level DC government employees, their family members and their friends, a lot of whom happen to live in Maryland. It's like the old Soviet system in which it was all about the Nomenklatura.

Agreed.

We live in a metropolitan area where three jurisdictions meet. The idea that it's damning or even inappropriate for people who work for the city (not elected officials, just rank and file employees) to live outside DC proper is nuts. The District can certainly incentivize city employees to stay in the city, but it's not wrong for them to live in Maryland just because their job is for the city any more than it would be wrong for employees of any other municipal government to live outside the city limits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, again very annoying that Duke Ellington, which is costing an arm and a leg to renovated, is NOT collecting money from the MD residents enrolled in the school. This school system is a hot mess.

Yup, and Duke Ellington's $200M renovation (cost overruns to date of approx. $122M!) is sucking all of the oxygen out of the room, meaning it's resulting in cuts and postponements to other school renovation projects around DC, like Murch. And bear in mind that this school that officially has 10 % Maryland students (and those are just the ones who declare themselves as Marylanders), has zero representatives of the DC mayor, council or schools chancellor on its board, despite getting all of its capital funding and more than 80% of its operating funding from DC taxpayers.

It's bad enough that the cost overruns exceed $100 million, which by itself is mind-boggling. But failing to collect the tuition from non-DC residents is just salt in the wound. When are our elected officials going to do something about this?

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty amazed by the Daily Caller stories. Despite any criticism of the journalists, they certainly highlight a significant and ongoing problem of residency fraud.

If you read the 2011 DC Council report that is linked in today's article, you can see that it's important for us DC residents to help out if we want any improvement. You can see in that report that having an email trail with OSSE and others was very useful in tracking down those out-of-state families that are given special favors in DCPS. Also, you can see in that report that one big reason DCPS wasn't crackign down on fraud is that it couldn't afford to pay a staff to investigate and prosecute residency fraud. Also, while DCPS has some weak process in place to address residency fraud, the DC charter schools

FWIW, here are a couple clear and concrete steps people frustrated by residency fraud should take ...

1. Whenever you suspect residency fraud, report it. Email not only OSSE, but also copy your Councilmember, your ANC rep, and anyone else in DC government that might get involved. Creating a paper trail and copying lots of people will (1) help ensure your report doesn't simply get deleted, and (2) maybe create an opportunity for someone at the Council level to combine multiple reports and see some patterns.
http://osse.dc.gov/service/investigation-and-residency-fraud
http://osse.dc.gov/service/appeals
http://dcforms.dc.gov/webform/osse-residency-fraud-prevention-form
[e-mail]

2. Email your Councilmember and/or ANC rep to let them know you're reading this series and you're frustrated by it. They won't know people care if no one contacts them. All it takes is a short email saying, "This concerns me. Please look into it." If enough people ask for change, the Council and OSSE is more likely to do something about it. If no one contacts them, they'll assume no one cares.
http://dccouncil.us/council

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed -- the Caller's reporters found data on cheating that every informed person should know, for example:

"Ellington has 525 students and 40 — nearly a tenth of the school — disclose they live in Maryland. Those students’ families owed a total of $463,200 in tuition, but local officials collected only $163,249, or 35 percent."

This is simply flat-out stealing.

And remember... this 10% reflects the number of students who actually disclose that they live in Maryland and (at least in theory) have the obligation to pay tuition. Now contemplate the other Maryland students whose parents choose to fly below the radar, pretend that they are DC residents and engage in residency fraud. It's mind boggling. And this is at one school -- one whose renovation costs have ballooned from $78 million to $200 million and climbing for just over 500 students.

That 10 percent is admitted after an audition process. I'm as annoyed about fraud as the next person, but targeting the 10 percent of DE students who pay tuition, and are NOT committing fraud doesn't strengthen your case. Yes, there was a problem with tuition collection a decade ago. There isn't now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, again very annoying that Duke Ellington, which is costing an arm and a leg to renovated, is NOT collecting money from the MD residents enrolled in the school. This school system is a hot mess.

Yup, and Duke Ellington's $200M renovation (cost overruns to date of approx. $122M!) is sucking all of the oxygen out of the room, meaning it's resulting in cuts and postponements to other school renovation projects around DC, like Murch. And bear in mind that this school that officially has 10 % Maryland students (and those are just the ones who declare themselves as Marylanders), has zero representatives of the DC mayor, council or schools chancellor on its board, despite getting all of its capital funding and more than 80% of its operating funding from DC taxpayers.

It's bad enough that the cost overruns exceed $100 million, which by itself is mind-boggling. But failing to collect the tuition from non-DC residents is just salt in the wound. When are our elected officials going to do something about this?

When you call them, email them, and show up at their offices. When you show up at their public appearances and demand answers. When you act like an outraged tax-payer whose money has been stolen and do something about it other than b*tching online with DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed -- the Caller's reporters found data on cheating that every informed person should know, for example:

"Ellington has 525 students and 40 — nearly a tenth of the school — disclose they live in Maryland. Those students’ families owed a total of $463,200 in tuition, but local officials collected only $163,249, or 35 percent."

This is simply flat-out stealing.

And remember... this 10% reflects the number of students who actually disclose that they live in Maryland and (at least in theory) have the obligation to pay tuition. Now contemplate the other Maryland students whose parents choose to fly below the radar, pretend that they are DC residents and engage in residency fraud. It's mind boggling. And this is at one school -- one whose renovation costs have ballooned from $78 million to $200 million and climbing for just over 500 students.

That 10 percent is admitted after an audition process. I'm as annoyed about fraud as the next person, but targeting the 10 percent of DE students who pay tuition, and are NOT committing fraud doesn't strengthen your case. Yes, there was a problem with tuition collection a decade ago. There isn't now.

So what is the data now? Please enlighten us.