Attorney General files suit against 16 people for school residency fraud

[Anonymous]

Gotta say, Racine seems to be doing a great job overall. Love, in particular, going after the DC employees who have been doing this for years. IMO they are the most egregious.

https://oag.dc.gov/release/ag-racine-sues-16-md-and-va-parents-back-school

[Anonymous]

Good. Now I hope these cases are air tight.

[Anonymous]

I don't feel great about all these cases against low-wage/middle class people, to be honest.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Guessing they went by tax records?

[Anonymous]

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.

Clearly there was an investigation and this person chose not to come clean. I would imagine this would be settled, since there is no way DC is going to collect.

[Anonymous]

Kind of amazing that people would risk so much to send their kids to such crappy schools FTMP. Especially the DC cop, wth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Clearly there was an investigation and this person chose not to come clean. I would imagine this would be settled, since there is no way DC is going to collect.

these are civil suits and she would not have had the right to a defense lawyer. so I'm not about to assume anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't feel great about all these cases against low-wage/middle class people, to be honest.

Even if your premise is true, being poor does not give you license to commit a crime or fraud.

[Anonymous]

Middle income Maryland kids are very low on my list of DC budget priorities.

This makes me wonder, how are things going with Ellington?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle income Maryland kids are very low on my list of DC budget priorities.

This makes me wonder, how are things going with Ellington?

Well none of these cases is against someone enrolled at Ellington, so either they are not pursuing anyone because the investigations didn't pan out, or they aren't ready to file a case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

But you weren't employed by the DC government were you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

But you weren't employed by the DC government were you.

I'm not unsynpathetic, but the tab should be paid by Maryland. Out of state kids are a low priority. DC has plenty of its own desperately poor families to care for.