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[neutralgamer02]

Wonder why she was chosen to be convicted unlike the previous cases. Sad.

She should have just let the kids live at her grandfather's house.

The school hiring a PI is pretty laughable though.

 

[Seth C]

The good news is now her parents can assume custody of the children and they can keep going to the good school, now legally!

 

[spandexmonkey]

They're not disallowing her to teach as a separate punishment. She can't be a teacher because she's a felon.

They are, the judge refused to reduce the crime to a misdeamenor.

Whole thing reeks of the district being vindictive. They've handled it better in the past, what was so horrible about this case that it meritted this response?

 

[Zoe]

They are, the judge refused to reduce the crime to a misdeamenor.

That still does not make it a separate punishment. It's because she's losing her livelihood that she's getting a drastically reduced sentence.

Edit: And it was the state, not the judge, who wouldn't reduce the crime.

 

[spandexmonkey]

That still does not make it a separate punishment. It's because she's losing her livelihood that she's getting a drastically reduced sentence.

The judge said that the effects on her career prospect was part of the punishment.

''Because of the felony conviction, you will not be allowed to get your teaching degree under Ohio law as it stands today,'' the judge said. ''The court's taking into consideration that is also a punishment that you will have to serve.''

 

[mre]

The good news is now her parents can assume custody of the children and they can keep going to the good school, now legally!

Except for the little fact that her father is probably going to prison for more than 10 days:

Williams, 64, was charged with the two felonies in 2009, court records show, accused of providing false information to the Summit County Department of Job and Family Services regarding his marital status and wife's income.

Prosecutors contend Williams deceived the agency to obtain financial disability assistance, Medicaid benefits and other public aid.

The judge said that the effects on her career prospect was part of the punishment.

No, that's an ancillary result of her being convicted of a felony. Because she can no longer teach, the judge reduced her sentence from 10 years to 10 days.

 

[Zoe]

The judge said that the effects on her career prospect was part of the punishment.

Which is why she's only serving 10 days instead of 10 years.

The judge is not explicitly disallowing her from teaching, which is what I was responding to. She just simply cannot be a teacher if she is a felon.

 

[spandexmonkey]

Which is why she's only serving 10 days instead of 10 years.

The judge is not explicitly disallowing her from teaching, which is what I was responding to. She just simply cannot be a teacher if she is a felon.

So then you are of the opinion that the punishment of 10 years or ruination of livelihood + 10 days in jail is adequate punishment for the severity of the crime?

 

[.GqueB.]

This is one of those slippery slope type situations. If they were to let her off with a mild scolding then it would only encourage other moms to do the same which, obviously, would cause many problems down the line.

Yea its a bit fucked that she was punished at all but its ultimately necessary.

 

[spandexmonkey]

This is one of those slippery slope type situations. If they were to let her off with a mild scolding then it would only encourage other moms to do the same which, obviously, would cause many problems down the line.

Yea its a bit fucked that she was punished at all but its ultimately necessary.

Figuring as the majority of those who act in this way receive a "mild scolding", I'm still not seeing what caused this particular case to justify the response it received. While I do agree that punishments should be in place to discourage this behavior, I think currently it's excessive, considering the crime.

 

[mre]

So then you are of the opinion that the punishment of 10 years or ruination of livelihood + 10 days in jail is adequate punishment for the severity of the crime?

Don't put words in someone's mouth. She said nothing of the sort.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

Figuring as the majority of those who act in this way receive a "mild scolding", I'm still not seeing what caused this particular case to justify the response it received.

People haven't figured this out yet? Really?

 

[spandexmonkey]

Don't put words in someone's mouth. She said nothing of the sort.

My apologies, I should have swapped the "are" and "you" in that sentence. I was curious if she was defending the punishment. The judge was explicit that the job loss was part of it.

 

[mre]

People haven't figured this out yet? Really?

I know you're not suggesting its because she's black, unless some biographical data on those who were not prosecuted has come to light?

Someone posted a page back or so that she was singled out for prosecution because she was the only one who refused to agree to a repayment plan on all/part of the amount that the school board claimed her children's education was worth.

 

[spandexmonkey]

Someone posted a page back or so that she was singled out for prosecution because she was the only one who refused to agree to a repayment plan on all/part of the amount that the school board claimed her children's education was worth.

Ah thank you, I missed that part.

 

[JGS]

People haven't figured this out yet? Really?

I'm having a hard time believing the racial implication because a good portion of the others are quite possibly minorities too.

The stupid internet has flooded the world with links supporting the mom, but not the actual case that made it different from the others.

Ah thank you, I missed that part.

Me too so ignore rant.

 

[Red]

I know you're not suggesting its because she's black, unless some biographical data on those who were not prosecuted has come to light?

Someone posted a page back or so that she was singled out for prosecution because she was the only one who refused to agree to a repayment plan on all/part of the amount that the school board claimed her children's education was worth.

From the time I was 7 to 17 I lived in a district nearby where this case is taking place, and the school I went to would actually encourage parents to do this sort of thing to get their kids into the "good" (white, nonblack, nonhispanic) districts.

So yeah.

I'm having a hard time believing the racial implication because a good portion of the others are quite possibly minorities too.

The stupid internet has flooded the world with links supporting the mom, but not the actual case that made it different from the others.

Me too so ignore rant.

Even with that reason, there's something shady about coming down so hard on a person who's trying to help their own children.

It's true I don't know all the details, but my own experience is kind of skewing my opinion.

 

[mre]

My apologies, I should have swapped the "are" and "you" in that sentence. I was curious if she was defending the punishment. The judge was explicit that the job loss was part of it.

The point of contention appears to be that I (not speaking for Zoe) am pointing out that the prohibition against teaching is an ancillary result of the felony conviction and not an explicit part of the punishment. The judge was pointing it out as justification for reducing her sentence from 10 years to 10 days.

Don't get me wrong, the judge was a dick. Se didn't have to sentence her to the maximum of 5 years per charge and then make this little speech about the other fall out from her conviction. It's not like she wasn't fully aware of what was going on.

 

[.GqueB.]

Figuring as the majority of those who act in this way receive a "mild scolding", I'm still not seeing what caused this particular case to justify the response it received. While I do agree that punishments should be in place to discourage this behavior, I think currently it's excessive, considering the crime.

Someone was probably a racist.

 

[mre]

From the time I was 7 to 17 I lived in a district nearby where this case is taking place, and the school I went to would actually encourage parents to do this sort of thing to get their kids into the "good" (white, nonblack, nonhispanic) districts.

So yeah.

No doubt. I'd imagine (again, without any proof) that many of the cases the district had previously encountered also involved minorities, which is why I doubt her prosecution was based upon racial motivations. It may turn out that all the other cases involved white families and the district was motivated by racism and decided to prosecute the one minority that tried to broach their white picket fences, in which case I'll acknowledge that racism was the driving force in her prosecution.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

I'm having a hard time believing the racial implication because a good portion of the others are quite possibly minorities too.

While this is absolutely true and racism is technically an unfounded claim, school districts also don't hire private investigators because a couple of extra middle-class white kids are attending class.

This is being discussed at the same time on Something Awful and someone there had the anecdote of a parent doing this and they just made him stop. No fines, no criminal charges, no repayment plan, just "hey cut it out". Also he was a white guy.

 

[Mr. B Natural]

My head scratches to those that think anything went wrong here.
There is absolutely no news here. And I laugh at anyone that thinks the problem here is that she's black. She committed a crime. She got caught. Oops.

And in ohio, if you get caught under-age drinking at 16, it will mess up your chances of being a teacher...let alone commit a premeditated crime every school day for a long time. I can guarantee she knew this beforehand. Everybody uses these strict rules to keep their teachers and teachers-to-be in the straight and narrow. It's a scare-tactic and such things only work when people are aware of it.

My sympathies go to the family's turmoil but that's how far as it goes. Some people have it rough. That's not an excuse to break the law. EVER. Especially when you're planning on becoming a teacher. Especially when you get your kids involved (even if it's for the kids).

And if she was so damn desperate to relocate her kids to the school where her dad lives, then why didn't she sell her house and move in with her dad? I'm gonna assume her dad is black, so, again, people claiming race need to get their head examined.

And sure, 10 years of jail is preposterous, though technically she committed fraud so she could have gotten 10 years. Again, not news. That's how it works. The result, 10 days, for punishment is not so bad. There is in fact signs of some humanity in all of this.

She could have home schooled her kids. She clearly has an interest in teaching children...why not her own?

And the issue here are the schools. It's the cause of the desperation and the women's irrationality. But this is Ohio. It's been in turmoil for 20+ years now. It's poor. Not race poor. Everybody-is-poor poor. It's been cutting programs for years and treating its teachers, schools and students like crap for years. And it's WAY too conservative to try new things to get out of its rut. You can't get blood from a stone. But women like this that think they're above the law are, in fact, making things only worse.

 

[JGS]

From the time I was 7 to 17 I lived in a district nearby where this case is taking place, and the school I went to would actually encourage parents to do this sort of thing to get their kids into the "good" (white, nonblack, nonhispanic) districts.

So yeah.

Even with that reason, there's something shady about coming down so hard on a person who's trying to help their own children.

It's true I don't know all the details, but my own experience is kind of skewing my opinion.

You can't use the excuse that you're helping your kids. It presumes that no one else has thought the same thing but decided to obey the law for whatever reason.

You can be a crack dealer to support your kids, it makes little difference in legalities.

She persistently (Look at me, I haven't read the article regarding the severity, but anyway...) denied she was guilty even though they had a detective spying on saying otherwise. She refused to back down.

I think race plays a role in the sense that the underperforming school is tied to race, but the verdict may be tied more to her stubborness.

 

[Yoritomo]

She should have stayed in district and helped improve the school her child attended. Then voted to give that district more money. The poor teachers are probably overworked and underpaid because parents like her try and get their children to another school instead of helping the underfunded school district. If you just paid the teachers more the teachers already there would improve.


...


...


...

Or at least that's what I was expecting given the political leanings of most gaffers.

 

[spandexmonkey]

I think a more reasonable remedy would have been a lawsuit by the school district against her. A financial punishment to which her new career as a teacher would be spent paying back.

You can be a crack dealer to support your kids, it makes little difference in legalities.

I do believe courts take intent into consideration.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

People haven't figured this out yet? Really?

Cause you could have all the chips, be poor or rich, still nobody want a nigga havin shit.

.

 

[mre]

She should have stayed in district and helped improve the school her child attended. Then voted to give that district more money. The poor teachers are probably overworked and underpaid because parents like her try and get their children to another school instead of helping the underfunded school district. If you just paid the teachers more the teachers already there would improve.


...


...


...

Or at least that's what I was expecting given the political leanings of most gaffers.

Actually, if I remember correctly (and I could be wrong), school funding is partially tied to student population. You can argue that by enrolling her kids in the school district where her father lived, she increased the funding to that school district while at the same time taking funding away from the school her kids should have attended.

 

[Sanjay]

My head scratches to those that think anything went wrong here.
There is absolutely no news here. And I laugh at anyone that thinks the problem here is that she's black. She committed a crime. She got caught. Oops.

And in ohio, if you get caught under-age drinking at 16, it will mess up your chances of being a teacher...let alone commit a premeditated crime every school day for a long time. I can guarantee she knew this beforehand. Everybody uses these strict rules to keep their teachers and teachers-to-be in the straight and narrow. It's a scare-tactic and such things only work when people are aware of it.

My sympathies go to the family's turmoil but that's how far as it goes. Some people have it rough. That's not an excuse to break the law. EVER. Especially when you're planning on becoming a teacher. Especially when you get your kids involved (even if it's for the kids).

And if she was so damn desperate to relocate her kids to the school where her dad lives, then why didn't she sell her house and move in with her dad? I'm gonna assume her dad is black, so, again, people claiming race need to get their head examined.

And sure, 10 years of jail is preposterous, though technically she committed fraud so she could have gotten 10 years. Again, not news. That's how it works. The result, 10 days, for punishment is not so bad. There is in fact signs of some humanity in all of this.

She could have home schooled her kids. She clearly has an interest in teaching children...why not her own?

And the issue here are the schools. It's the cause of the desperation and the women's irrationality. But this is Ohio. It's been in turmoil for 20+ years now. It's poor. Not race poor. Everybody-is-poor poor. It's been cutting programs for years and treating its teachers, schools and students like crap for years. And it's WAY too conservative to try new things to get out of its rut. You can't get blood from a stone. But women like this that think they're above the law are, in fact, making things only worse.

Think being poor played a major part too, so its a double whammy. Like you said, people should be punished for breaking the law but the punishment it self was very harsh and not only that there were 40 other cases where no punishment happened in the same type of scenario, that's what people are puzzled at.

 

[JGS]

She should have stayed in district and helped improve the school her child attended. Then voted to give that district more money. The poor teachers are probably overworked and underpaid because parents like her try and get their children to another school instead of helping the underfunded school district. If you just paid the teachers more the teachers already there would improve.


...


...


...

Or at least that's what I was expecting given the political leanings of most gaffers.

In our city, the teachers get paid the same, but I guess it's performance based.

However, if schools are set up anything like my kids' school then a lot of money comes from the parents as well as volunteer activity. So the burden of one moocher increases even more so the cost of running the school.

I'm sticking to the idea of a standard which is not the case in most states or disctricts.

 

[Dead Man]

.

Really?

 

[Yoritomo]

The only people who can choose the school their child attends are those that can afford tuition to a private school or to completely move their family to a competitive school district.

Suck it up poor people of America.

 

[SmokyDave]

Really?

It's much easier to jump to conclusions than it is to A; find out the ethnicity of the other 39, and B; ask whether there would have been an issue if this child had actually lived at the address provided.

I must admit though, it's odd that this woman seems to have been singled out (I mean, a PI, really?).

 

[Dead Man]

It's much easier to jump to conclusions than it is to A; find out the ethnicity of the other 39, and B; ask whether there would have been an issue if this child had actually lived at the address provided.

I must admit though, it's odd that this woman seems to have been singled out (I mean, a PI, really?).

LOL, I'm not saying racism played no part, it is impossible for me to say, but to just through out a line of Nas, like that proves anything, is laughable.

 

[SmokyDave]

LOL, I'm not saying racism played no part, it is impossible for me to say, but to just through out a line of Nas, like that proves anything, is laughable.

Are you dissing the guy that gave us this gem....

Jesus died at age 33, there's thirty-three shots
from twin glocks there's sixteen apiece, that's thirty-two.

I hope not. As an aside, I always read his name as Network Attached Storage.

 

[Steelrain]

Don't worry i'm sure the family can bootstrap their way back up after being condemned to poverty for the forseeable future. They'll just have to work harder to get out of it!!

Next time she pulls a stunt like this she better be rich/white/both. Don't want those dirty poors suckin up all that education.

 

[Dead Man]

Are you dissing the guy that gave us this gem....

I hope not. As an aside, I always read his name as Network Attached Storage.

Nah, not dissing Network, just the guy that posted him!

 

[Diatribe1974]

She cheated to get her children a leg up, at the expense of others. Sending kids to a different district is not a real solution. The other 'good' schools can only absorb so many more students. Ultimately, the only workable solution is more good schools.

She shouldn't be commended for this. But, that said, it she deserves nothing more serious than a scolding.

Evidently this person is white & lives in a middle class neighborhood & with no kids of their own. As a result, I officially deem this poster worthy of the coveted "Motherfucker of the Moment Award!" Congrats dude! You earned it!

 

[ToxicAdam]

The only people who can choose the school their child attends are those that can afford tuition to a private school or to completely move their family to a competitive school district.

Suck it up poor people of America.

There are plenty of programs in America that serve the poor to help them choose the best schools for their children. In some areas of the country this is not true and some people (like this woman) make poor choices in hoping to game the system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_choice

Actually, if I remember correctly (and I could be wrong), school funding is partially tied to student population. You can argue that by enrolling her kids in the school district where her father lived, she increased the funding to that school district while at the same time taking funding away from the school her kids should have attended.

It's exactly this way and people that are opposed to No Child Left Behind use this as a talking point on why the program is bad.

 

[JGS]

Evidently this person is white & lives in a middle class neighborhood & with no kids of their own. As a result, I officially deem this poster worthy of the coveted "Motherfucker of the Moment Award!" Congrats dude! You earned it!

[laffy]

I'm a black guy with 2 kids that agrees with that assessment.

I'm middle class though so sorry.

 

[Jangocube]

She deserves mother of the year. Seriously.

Lordy people, she was doing a good thing for her kids, but this?

Anyways, it's sad to see that the original article had to bring race into the picture. Must stuff always boil down to racism? Gets old.

Sad story though.

 

[Goro Majima]

I dunno, potentially going to prison for 10 years? That's messed up. I know it was reduced to 10 days but her life is still basically ruined.

Hey maybe the state would have more money to spend on schools if we weren't spending so much on the prisons that we're sending people like this to.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

The only people who can choose the school their child attends are those that can afford tuition to a private school or to completely move their family to a competitive school district.

Suck it up poor people of America.

I know this is a joke post, but it's amazing how many people not only have the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps by any means necessary" attitude, but then on top of that, there's now "fuck that, you gotta pull your whole neighborhood up by the bootstraps if you want to smell success in this country."

After elementary school, my parents enrolled me in a middle school 2 towns over *gasp* 6 months before we moved there, as they didn't want me to attend the rotten middle school and HS in the town we grew up in. For all I knew at the time it was probably illegal too, but now, as a college grad about to get my PhD, I can't thank the school enough for letting little ol' me slip through the cracks. So I sympathize with this woman who was just trying to get past the institutional disparity in primary/secondary education in this country and give her kids a fair shot. You'd think the school and prosecution would take this into account before seeking out a heavy-handed charge and sentence.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Wow jailtime really?

I think the kids getting kicked out of the school is bad enough. I went to a very highly ranked high school in Southern california and we had alot of students who claimed they were living in the district and used relatives addresses to get in. Thats why the school implemented random checks to in the morning before school to see if the students were actually living there.

I don't see why they had to hire a private detective. Although I think what she did was wrong for all the right reasons. It is unfair that students whose parents pay to live in the more expensive neighborhoods like mine get crowded schools because its desirable to attend there. I had to deal with overcrowding of classrooms and most of the time the illegal students weren't even high achievers. Maybe 1 out of 20, or 10 at best; waste of resources it was.

Still the punishment was too harsh, a damn felony? I really hate our justice system sometimes, its so in consistent when there are so many similar cases with varying degrees of punishment.

 

[distantmantra]

I work for a school district, and while I know there are instances of parents trying to do things like this, I've never heard of a similar punishment.

After elementary school, my parents enrolled me in a middle school 2 towns over *gasp* 6 months before we moved there, as they didn't want me to attend the rotten middle school and HS in the town we grew up in. For all I knew at the time it was probably illegal too

Your parents probably applied for a waiver with the district since you were moving there.

 

[Nobody Important]

Apparently, the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority is taking a second look at her public housing eligibility. As a result, she may be forced to either repay a significant portion of her reduced rent or lose her home.

On top of that, the Board of Election noted that she fraudulently voted using a Copley address although she may not face additional charges due to a technicality.

The bellow article stats that she is currently serving her ninth day, but elsewhere on their website, they state that she has been released a day early.

An Akron mother in jail for improperly enrolling her children in Copley-Fairlawn schools cleared one hurdle Tuesday but faces another.

Kelley Williams-Bolar's conviction for falsifying documents to enroll her two children in the suburban district prompted questions about whether she violated voter registration laws and public housing regulations.

The Summit County elections board referred the voter registration question Tuesday to the county prosecutor's office, but the prosecutor declined to pursue the issue, saying it was too similar to what landed Williams-Bolar in jail.

The Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA), however, sent Williams-Bolar and her attorney a letter Tuesday, saying the public housing agency wants to meet with her when she gets out of jail.

''We are reviewing it,'' said Tony O'Leary, AMHA's executive director. ''We'd like to have her meet — when available — with her legal counsel to go over her
residency.''

At issue will be whether Williams-Bolar's children were living with her at her Hartford Avenue home in Akron the majority of the time and whether she was paying the proper amount of rent, O'Leary said.

''We need to verify just what was what,'' he said, adding that she financially qualified for public housing.

Williams-Bolar has said she split her time between her Hartford Avenue home and her father's Copley Township home. However, prosecutors said she and her children were living in Akron, which would have precluded the children from attending Copley-Fairlawn schools.

Williams-Bolar, 40, a single mother going to college and working as a teaching assistant at Buchtel High School, is serving the ninth day of a 10-day sentence after her conviction.

The unusual case has garnered national attention and raised red flags around town, including at the elections board.

''We felt it was our duty to take this to the prosecutor's office so they could take whatever action they felt was appropriate,'' said Ron Koehler, the board's deputy director.

When Williams-Bolar voted in 2008, she used her father's address on Black Pond Drive in Copley Township.

The prosecutor's office opted not to pursue additional charges.

''The law recognizes that, under certain circumstances, there can be only one conviction and sentence for an ongoing scheme involving the same crime,'' said Laurie Cramer, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.

If prosecutors had gone forward with the case, Williams-Bolar might have been charged with tampering with records, a felony, or false registration or illegal voting, also felonies, Cramer said.

Williams-Bolar changed her address with the elections board in August 2004 to Hartford Avenue in Akron. She voted a provisional ballot in March 2008 using her father's address in Copley Township. She cast an absentee ballot in the November 2008 election, again using the Copley address, and hasn't voted since, according to election records.

O'Leary said AMHA's query will look at Williams-Bolar's current housing situation, as well as her past status. He said size of household is a factor in calculating the amount of rent.

''We need to determine, with her help, if her kids were living with her,'' he said. ''If they were, that's probably not an issue. If not, she would have been required to report that to us and there would have been an adjustment to her rent.''

Residents must provide information to AMHA annually, verifying household size and income, O'Leary said.

To be eligible for public housing, a person generally cannot earn more than 60 percent of the median household income. In Summit County, the median income for all families is about $47,000.

AMHA routinely looks into eligibility questions, such as household size or income level. This can result in residents being asked to pay what is owed and, if they don't, possibly being evicted, O'Leary said.

Residents are entitled to a hearing when questions arise, he said.

''Initially, we will just have an informational meeting,'' O'Leary said of the inquiry into Williams-Bolar's status. ''We will meet with her and her attorney and advise her — at that point — what her rights are.''

Kerry O'Brien, Williams-Bolar's attorney, didn't return a phone message Tuesday seeking comment.

Akron Beacon Journal

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Land of the free

Spoiler

to be poor and miserable

.

 

[Nobody Important]

It's ridiculous she was jailed.

Rather than writing an angry letter to the school district, write one to the Governor of the state. Unlike most of the people involved, he has the power to pardon crimes.
http://www.governor.ohio.gov/ShareYourIdeas.aspx

Yeah, Ohio's new Governor, for the first time since 1963, appointed an all-white cabinet. I doubt he will care.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Apparently, the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority is taking a second look at her public housing eligibility. As a result, she may be forced to either repay a significant portion of her reduced rent or lose her home.

On top of that, the Board of Election noted that she fraudulently voted using a Copley address although she may not face additional charges due to a technicality.

The bellow article stats that she is currently serving her ninth day, but elsewhere on their website, they state that she has been released a day early.


Akron Beacon Journal

It's possible the housing unit was only supposed to be temporary when she voted, and her father's place was really her "permanent" residence. Doesn't mean what she did back then was illegal, necessarily.

 

[Nobody Important]

It's possible the housing unit was only supposed to be temporary when she voted, and her father's place was really her "permanent" residence. Doesn't mean what she did back then was illegal, necessarily.

When Williams-Bolar voted in 2008, she used her father's address on Black Pond Drive in Copley Township.

The prosecutor's office opted not to pursue additional charges.

If prosecutors had gone forward with the case, Williams-Bolar might have been charged with tampering with records, a felony, or false registration or illegal voting, also felonies, Cramer said.

Williams-Bolar changed her address with the elections board in August 2004 to Hartford Avenue in Akron. She voted a provisional ballot in March 2008 using her father's address in Copley Township. She cast an absentee ballot in the November 2008 election, again using the Copley address, and hasn't voted since, according to election records.

I still vote using my parents address but that's the address I registered to.

 

[ShinNL]

If the people here who defend her are called White Knights, what are the people called who say "well deserved!"? Dark ugly slimy trolls?

Grandfather's address = losing your complete study, jailtime, criminal record, kids will be sent to shitty school. Nice laws, America.