Thread: Woman Convicted of Felony for Sending Kids to Better School

Here is some information from an Ohio website of, School Finding Matters, an organization devoted to providing information about education in that state,

"The Ohio Supreme Court ruled the state's funding system unconstitutional four times. Since the final ruling in 2002, funding increases for education have just kept up with inflation - with state and local contributions increasing 15.7%, compared to a 16% percent rise in the Consumer Price Index. This at a time when costs increased due to state and federal mandates (including No Child Left Behind) and increases in energy and health care costs"


"For more than 15 years, Ohio schools have operated under an education system that the courts have declared unconstitutional. The landscape of school funding in the state has changed in that time."


"On some fronts, improvements have been realized. Education Week's Quality Counts report gave Ohio an F for equity and a C for adequacy in school funding in 2001. For 2008, Ohio received a B+ for equity and C+ for spending. A similar report from Education Trust found that Ohio had reversed inequity in per-pupil spending from 1999 to 2005."


"Despite some signs of progress, however, Ohio's school funding system still...

relies heavily on property taxes,
results in inequities among districts,
leaves many districts routinely scrambling for dollars,
isn't tied to effective strategies,

...and, by most accounts, is unconstitutional."


"While some data indicate that the gap between Ohio's richest and poorest districts has narrowed, other reports indicate the state still has a way to go before all students have equal opportunity. The range in spending per pupil is large, with property-rich districts spending as much as three times as much per pupil as those with low property values.
Even as averages improve, some areas still suffer. For example, the disparity between rural Appalachian districts and the state average has not closed, with a gap of $440 per pupil in 2006. Evidence of different financial situations can be seen by comparing crumbling facilities in some districts to college-campus like high schools in others, outdated textbooks in one to a laptop for every student in another."

My guess it that most or all states in the US have some disparity. I am thankful that in my state at least open enrollment is required in order to receive funding. When my kids started school I wasn't impressed with the neighbohood school. It wasn't bad by any means but it wasn't what I wanted for them. I applied and got them into a nearby school that was the top elementry in the city, It was a tiny school with a very specific education model. After we moved, I again enrolled my kids in another district. I had a choice of several districts and we visited schools and made a choice. It's one of the 100 top HS in the US. How did we get in? There are enough parents that don't really care, that all we had to do was apply. If that hadn't been an option I would done what ever it took to get my kids into an appropriate school. I don't think the local HS is bad but it I also don't think it has ever had a National Merit Scholar, my eldest was a candidate and my youngest has a shot at it too.

Am I potential criminal because I'm pretty far down the economic scale but want my kids who are really intelligent and hard working students, to have the best possible opportunity to succeed? Maybe I am. Or would be in Ohio. I'd like to see my kids have a shot at living a better life than I have been able to provide.

I see different possiblities in situations. Sometimes people are flat out wrong in what they do. They steal, they lie, they kill, they take advantage of others. But sometimes it is society or the government (which represents the society) that is at fault and guilty of creating situations where, otherwise good people are pushed into action that may be illegal but is not immoral. This woman did not rob a bank, threaten harm to anyone, deal drugs, sell herself or her children into prostitution, she used her father's address to get around a broken system. I just do not see this as a felony level action. She is being used tar and feathered to keep others in "their place".