School residency cheaters investigated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Why is it jaw-dropping that municipal employees live outside the city limits? Why do you care where the bus driver, or the clerk who takes parking ticket money at city hall lives?

[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.

Did you not read the article. It said that many of the 10 percent non-residents are NOT paying tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Did you not read the article. It said that many of the 10 percent non-residents are NOT paying tuition.

Those numbers are old. The more recent numbers from Ellington -- and SWW, Deal, Sela, BASIS -- are that everyone registered as a non-resident student paid for SY 2014-15 (15-16 data not out yet).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Why is it jaw-dropping that municipal employees live outside the city limits? Why do you care where the bus driver, or the clerk who takes parking ticket money at city hall lives?

Can you read? What's jaw-dropping is that it takes a Republican to tell the truth. According to your logic: obviously city employees are Democrats, don't live in DC, and are incapable of truth-telling. Screw 'em.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Why is it jaw-dropping that municipal employees live outside the city limits? Why do you care where the bus driver, or the clerk who takes parking ticket money at city hall lives?

Can you read? What's jaw-dropping is that it takes a Republican to tell the truth. According to your logic: obviously city employees are Democrats, don't live in DC, and are incapable of truth-telling. Screw 'em.

What are you even talking about? Someone quoted the part about many municipal employees living outside DC proper. Someone else said such a thing would be jaw-dropping. My question is why is it jaw-dropping? Why do you care how many city employees live outside DC? It isn't illegal or fraudulent to live in a neighboring jurisdiction, even if you are a city employee.

[Anonymous]

it was actually 7.5% at Duke Ellington, so the "10%" is exaggerated by 1/3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Why is it jaw-dropping that municipal employees live outside the city limits? Why do you care where the bus driver, or the clerk who takes parking ticket money at city hall lives?

Can you read? What's jaw-dropping is that it takes a Republican to tell the truth. According to your logic: obviously city employees are Democrats, don't live in DC, and are incapable of truth-telling. Screw 'em.

What are you even talking about? Someone quoted the part about many municipal employees living outside DC proper. Someone else said such a thing would be jaw-dropping. My question is why is it jaw-dropping? Why do you care how many city employees live outside DC? It isn't illegal or fraudulent to live in a neighboring jurisdiction, even if you are a city employee.

Who cares if they're city employees? I barely avoided two potholes today just getting my kids to camp. They generally do a horrible job of doing their job. If they don't live in the District, then they A ) go to the back of the line for school and then B ) pay full freight tuition. Why is this even a question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it was actually 7.5% at Duke Ellington, so the "10%" is exaggerated by 1/3

So, sentence them to 10 years for fraud, and then reduce it by 1/3 to 7.5. That would satisfy everyone.

[Anonymous]

Some cities do require their employees to live in the city, like Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it was actually 7.5% at Duke Ellington, so the "10%" is exaggerated by 1/3

Oh, well that makes it all better then.

[Anonymous]

Other audit reports for anyone who cares to look at DCPS's recent investigations of residency fraud.
http://www.dcauditor.org/sites/default/files/DCA242013.pdf
http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/OSSE's%20Residency%20Report%20June%202015%20FINAL%20to%20OPLA%205%2028%2015%20(2).pdf

In addition, we did not rely on data provided by OSSE because we
found the data to be unreliable. We encountered examples in which
data was incomplete, was not accurate, or was conflicting with
corroborating information. For example, while Statewide
Longitudinal Education Data System (SLED) is supposed to be a
complete record of student data,4 we found that SLED did not reflect
the full number of non-residents enrolled. SLED listed 65 nonresidents;
while 70 non-residents were listed in DCPS’s records for
the same time period. Lastly, we were limited by the fact that BASIS
PCS, one of the schools chosen for our sample, did not respond to our
repeated requests for information about the enrollment of its nonresident
students.

To determine if allegations were handled in accordance with the Act
we reviewed 20 investigations – 11 DCPS and 9 PCS – and found that
OSSE was informed of only 1 of the 7 closed investigations in our
sample. We also found that while OSSE had not referred any cases to
the OAG, DCPS referred at least one residency fraud case to the OAG
without OSSE’s knowledge. It is important to note that DCPS’s
independent investigations resulted in five families being assessed
retroactive tuition, totaling $66,406, of which $5,430 was collected
and again deposited in the DCPS Residency Fund account, not the
Residency Fund maintained by OSSE, as required by the Act.
We believe that the primary reason OSSE was unaware of certain
investigations was due to the multiple hotlines existing. Thus, a
single hotline that is properly promoted is a key tool to prevent fraud,
identify fraud and centralize fraud allegations.

As of May 20, 2015, 88 tips were received and 70 investigations were conducted during the 2014-2015
school year. The majority of those tips were received from the Residency Fraud Prevention Hotline and
the online submission form (see Appendix I for additional information on tips received). Some tips were
not investigated for various reasons as displayed in Figure 1 below.

Non-Verified Students (111 students)

65 Students Cleared: Residency verification documentation
submitted to OSSE during follow up correspondence.

31 Students Withdrawn: LEA informed OSSE
that student has withdrawn from school

8 Students Cleared OSSE's Preliminary
Investigation and determined as residents

7 Students Determined Non-Residents and
cases forwarded to DC OAG

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some cities do require their employees to live in the city, like Chicago.

In New York City you can live outside the City, but you must pay City taxes. That's how it should be here in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some cities do require their employees to live in the city, like Chicago.

In New York City you can live outside the City, but you must pay City taxes. That's how it should be here in DC.

The Home Rule Act - written and passed by Congress - does not allow DC to levy taxes on non-District residents who work within the bounds of DC. We are the only place in the country not allowed to levy income taxes. It's really good for DC's athletes, who are allowed to play here but then keep their off-season residency in no-tax jurisdictions, such as Florida and Texas.

[Anonymous]

38 fraudulent students out of 111 referrals is pretty damn high, and even then you have to consider that most of the referrals came from tips rather than the City's own attempts to keep the money secure. Surely if the City digs deeper we would see many more cases.

The DC Audit report data shows there's a big problem here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:38 fraudulent students out of 111 referrals is pretty damn high, and even then you have to consider that most of the referrals came from tips rather than the City's own attempts to keep the money secure. Surely if the City digs deeper we would see many more cases.

The DC Audit report data shows there's a big problem here.

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