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| Kelley Willams-Bolar, American Mom |
JUSTICE GONE AWRY
WHAT: Single mother Kelley Williams-Bolar of Akron, Ohio, used her father’s address to falsely claim residency status to allow her two daughters to attend a higher-performing suburban school. She was convicted by a jury and served nine days in jail.
WHY IT’S OUTRAGEOUS: It is hardly uncommon for parents to lie about school-district residency, but prosecuting such cases is virtually unheard of. As a convicted felon, Williams-Bolar might now lose her job as a teachers’ aide.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NEXT: Williams-Bolar’s plight has drawn national attention to the iniquities of locking children into underperforming and unsafe inner-city school systems. She is being offered backing for a potential appeal of her verdict.
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/daily-outrage/2011/01/justice-gone-awry-ohio-mom-jailed-sneaking-kids-better-school-district#ixzz1CL5X8oXG
Watch video here:
Ohio Mom Kelley Williams-Bolar Jailed for Sending Kids to Better School District - ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-mom-jailed-sending-kids-school-district/story?id=12763654
Seriously?! Is this how we're fixing our problem on inequality in schools? Putting the mom in jail and charging the dad with a felony? So now in addition to these kids being poor, they are kicked out of a good school and their mom goes to jail. Seriously?! Is this the message we want to send to our American kids?!?!
I read about this situation too and it really angers me. I mean honestly, the punishment is not equal to the "crime". And what is the crime REALLY? A mother wanting her children to get a higher quality education than the one being offered closer to her primary residence? Then the $30K that the school district made such a big deal about....what about the money they spent hiring a private investigator and pursuing this IN COURT? Talk about good tax dollars going to waste! Her father lives in the school district, undoubtably the children live there at least part of the time and HE pays taxes in that area. I know I don't have children and I CERTAINLY see where some of my property taxes are allocated to the local school system! So again, what is the offense? Or is it more that the school system wanted to make an example out of her? I think so.
ReplyDeleteCNN had a discussion panel on this case last week and one member of the panel made the point that one of the bigger issues here is the fact that she was singled out when there were a plethora of other cases that could have been pursued as well. Why this particular family? Not only do these kids have to go back to a clearly documented bad school, but their mom also now has a record and may lose her job. Additionally, the Brown vs. The Board of Education is all about giving all American children equal access to a quality education which is clearly an issue here.
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