Is it Stealing?

[Becky2005]

and what scares me about these arrangements is when the school, local law enforcement or social services has an emergent issue about the student that is not well handled by phone, and a representative is dispatched to try to make face to face contact with the parent. in an emergent 'high risk' situation it is imperitive to be able to locate a reported 'stay at home parent' (round here the parents have to list a work location or 'sah' status to be able to physicaly contact/retrieve in an emergency). i would hate to see a child in need fearfull to disclose their real home address by virtue of their parent coaching them not to (or in the absence of their ability to disclose the correct info. authorities being unable to asertain the home address)..

I hadn't even thought about these issues but you are right, you just never know what is going to happen at school & all the school has to go by is the address on record could make for some very bad situations. We actually had an elementary child die while at school (natural causes, apparently an unknown heart condition)...could you imagine if they couldn't get in touch with the parents because the information they gave was bogus!!!

 

[azgal81]

What if the school district finds out?? Then what are you going to do even if it was tempting I wouldn't do it.

 

[GJM]

I didn't read all the posts -

Where I live in NJ you must live in the town - in my town we have 3 elementary schools when I registered my DS I have to have 3 forms with me to prove I live where I do. One of them has to be a utility bill. I pay taxes for the town I live in so I would be upset if someone from the next town over sent their child to our school. A big portion of my property taxes go to the school.

Yes kids have been thrown out of school for not living in the town, especially the town I grew up in there was a big problem with this and they have really cracked down on it.

 

[ducklite]

It's stealing, period.

If you want your kid to go to a better school, buy a house in that district.

Every state I've ever lived in funds the local schools through local property taxes. If someone who doesn't live in my town sends their kids to our schools due to fraud, they are stealing and should be prosecuted criminally and civilly for it. My property tax rate is a lot higher than some of the neighboring areas, and we've got better schools as a result. I don't want my taxes to go higher yet because of kids who don't even live in the disctrict.

Anne

 

[mrsltg]

It's stealing, period.

If you want your kid to go to a better school, buy a house in that district.

Every state I've ever lived in funds the local schools through local property taxes. If someone who doesn't live in my town sends their kids to our schools due to fraud, they are stealing and should be prosecuted criminally and civilly for it. My property tax rate is a lot higher than some of the neighboring areas, and we've got better schools as a result. I don't want my taxes to go higher yet because of kids who don't even live in the disctrict.

Anne

Nice to be rich, isn't it? I, too, bought a great house in a great neighborhood and even still I send my dd to private school. I have the power of $$$ to exercise my choice. Unfortunately, many parents are not given the option of simply buying a house in a better district. They are trapped. So are their children. They are still forced to pay taxes, even to a consistently failing school. Their children graduate with a diploma that means nothing or don't bother finishing at all thereby continuing a very vicious cycle.

Nope, if a parent is so vested in their child's education they are willing to drive the kid clear across a district/county/whatever I really don't care. A parent willing to make a sacrifice to give their kid a better chance at life via a good education is a good parent. When parents are given a reasonable and legitimate choice as to the future of their child I *may* begin to quibble over tax dollars and property values - until then, I'll go ahead and give the parent the benefit of the doubt.

 

[mrsltg]

That's a pretty wild argument. Vigilante use of government services could be applied to other areas as well. Don't like that the govt is not fixing streets with potholes? - fine, drive on the sidewalk. This could be fun.

Driving on the sidewalk could kill someone. Depriving a child of a good education only ensures that certain people will never get ahead.

 

[momto2girls]

Nice to be rich, isn't it? I, too, bought a great house in a great neighborhood and even still I send my dd to private school. I have the power of $$$ to exercise my choice. Unfortunately, many parents are not given the option of simply buying a house in a better district. They are trapped. So are their children. They are still forced to pay taxes, even to a consistently failing school. Their children graduate with a diploma that means nothing or don't bother finishing at all thereby continuing a very vicious cycle.

Nope, if a parent is so vested in their child's education they are willing to drive the kid clear across a district/county/whatever I really don't care. A parent willing to make a sacrifice to give their kid a better chance at life via a good education is a good parent. When parents are given a reasonable and legitimate choice as to the future of their child I *may* begin to quibble over tax dollars and property values - until then, I'll go ahead and give the parent the benefit of the doubt.

I posted earlier that I wish that I could "sponsor" children from another district for my "excellent" school district. This is exactly what I'm talking about. I pay a ton of taxes and live where the schools are "excellent", but my kids don't attend public schools (and won't). I just wish that I could give those slots to someone else.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I don't consider it stealing or even remotely wrong. When the government gets its act together and either provides for functioning schools or lets parents choose to send their children to the best possible school, I'll worry about it. Until then, all bets are off.

Oh yeah so this makes alot of sense! You don't want to spend the money to live in a better district so it's the government's fault! Why not eitherbuy a house in the district you want or get involved in your own school (which you should do regardless of where you live) and help to make it better. I shouldn't have to fund your kids' educations just because you don't want to spend the money to live in the area.

 

[MELISAZACK]

Our district considers it this and will not only fine you for the taxes and what they fell the cost of the time your child used our district they go for jail time as well for the parents and the folks who address you used in the district..
I pay a ton of money for our taxes and if you want your kids in my school than move here...it is stealing....
Our district is big on asking residents for help in cathcing people too.. I had no issue letting them know the 2 elementry kids taht were in my son's school that were from another district and both were removed after a lenghty PI investigaion at Xmas time....
It may sound harsh - but we have 2 very bad school districts right next to us and parents are always trying to sneak in and lot of kids from those districts have learning disabilities that require special teacher aids and such and then our taxes go higher-- I have no issue if they are from the district and need it but if you dont' live here then you have no business in the school...

 

[Christine]

Anne, sometimes it's not so easy to just "move to a better district." I have lived in the same district for 13 years and have had my schools changed on my 3 times--back and forth. So as much planning as I might do, I can't be guaranteed which high school my kids will be sent to. I might luck out and the "good" high school next year, or we might have to stay with the worst one in the county depending on the population growth. The only thing I can control is the county system I'm in.

Again, I will say that this thread is a spinoff of my thread yesterday so I feel the need to sort of explain our situation--even though I am NOT sending my daughter out of her area.

We live in a pretty good school district. It isn't the best in Virginia, but it is still good. No reason to be ashamed of it or run from it at all. My issue is with the "variances" of the schools WITHIN THE SAME DISTRICT. I wasn't talking about jumping district lines or county lines or going anywhere where I wasn't paying taxes. My DD wants to attend a high school within our tax district but one that we are not zoned for based on our neighborhood. Yes, the school she wants to go to produces more college attendees and scores higher on SATs than her "home" school. She only wants to attend this school because more of her friends go there. Period.


It is dishonest in this situation but I would not be stealing from anyone.

 

[BuckNaked]

When I rented I paid directly for the school district. We paid Personal Property Tax on our cars and the school district was included on on that. I wonder if perhaps rental properties are taxes differently. Because otherwise it seems rental properties are taxed double--from the landlord and from the tenant.

I'm sure it depends on the state. We own a rental home in Alabama (Montgomery County), and we pay the property tax every year. The money funds the county, not individual districts. Our tenants pay no property tax directly, but we include it as part of the rent we charge. Their kids are free to go to the public schools there.

Plus, personal property taxes are completely different. Renters have to pay those themselves, on their own personal property. It has nothing to do with real estate property taxes. So no, there wouldn't be a double taxation issue.

 

[orljustin]

I agree that it isn't stealing, since the the other person in the good district is already paying for a "slot" in the good school with their taxes.

Obviously, the schools are funded based on statistics, and how many kids they anticipate will attend from the area. If every household "sponsored" a kid from out of the area, everything would go to hell. Overcrowding, not enough supplies, portables, etc. That's why they have the rules.

So, it's against the rules, but it isn't stealing, imo.

 

[grinningghost]

Yes - it sure is!

I went through alot of hoops to get my DD to finish out her senior year in her current school when we moved to a different district.

Normally, there's a hefty tuition involved, but because she was halfway into her senior year and involved in a lot of school and community service endeavors, she was allowed to finish without paying tuition. But I had to get permission from the superintendent and everyone underneath him - no way I was just going to try and "slide" her through.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Nice to be rich, isn't it? I, too, bought a great house in a great neighborhood and even still I send my dd to private school. I have the power of $$$ to exercise my choice. Unfortunately, many parents are not given the option of simply buying a house in a better district. They are trapped. So are their children. They are still forced to pay taxes, even to a consistently failing school. Their children graduate with a diploma that means nothing or don't bother finishing at all thereby continuing a very vicious cycle.

Nope, if a parent is so vested in their child's education they are willing to drive the kid clear across a district/county/whatever I really don't care. A parent willing to make a sacrifice to give their kid a better chance at life via a good education is a good parent. When parents are given a reasonable and legitimate choice as to the future of their child I *may* begin to quibble over tax dollars and property values - until then, I'll go ahead and give the parent the benefit of the doubt.

This has nothing to do with being rich. We sure aren't and yet we live in a great school district. Nobody is "trapped". You can scrimp and save like everyone else. Can I afford a multimillion dollar home? Nope. Am I "trapped"? Nope. If a parent is so vested in their child's education they would make sure that their school provided one. Some schools near where I live are horrible. Are they horrible because they have no money? Nope. They pay very high taxes for the shcools. They are horrible because you have kids who bring weapons to school, shoot each other, stab each other, beat each other, sexually assault each other etc. WHERE ARE THESE PARENTS?!!!!! I don't care how much money you make, a school is only as good as the families and people involved. If you want to send your kid off to school oblivious to what he/she is doing and you want to blame the teacher or school board every time Johnny or Suzy doesn't do well etc. Then you are the problem not the school. So the being rich theory doesn't hold any water for me. JMHO.

 

[punkin]

Yes - it sure is!

I went through alot of hoops to get my DD to finish out her senior year in her current school when we moved to a different district.

Normally, there's a hefty tuition involved, but because she was halfway into her senior year and involved in a lot of school and community service endeavors, she was allowed to finish without paying tuition. But I had to get permission from the superintendent and everyone underneath him - no way I was just going to try and "slide" her through.

Isn't that nice that you had the time, energy, desire, and know-how to jump through all those hoops to help your daughter. Now imagine my situation with a single mother without a great command of English who worked full time and was not well versed in "hoop jumping."

 

[RitaZ.]

Depriving a child of a good education only ensures that certain people will never get ahead.

Exactly!

Gore Vidal's quote comes to mind:

It's not enough to succeed. Others must fail.

 

[punkin]

This has nothing to do with being rich.

Not rich, but certainly not desperately poor either.

 

[mrsltg]

This has nothing to do with being rich. We sure aren't and yet we live in a great school district. Nobody is "trapped". You can scrimp and save like everyone else. Can I afford a multimillion dollar home? Nope. Am I "trapped"? Nope. If a parent is so vested in their child's education they would make sure that their school provided one. Some schools near where I live are horrible. Are they horrible because they have no money? Nope. They pay very high taxes for the shcools. They are horrible because you have kids who bring weapons to school, shoot each other, stab each other, beat each other, sexually assault each other etc. WHERE ARE THESE PARENTS?!!!!! I don't care how much money you make, a school is only as good as the families and people involved. If you want to send your kid off to school oblivious to what he/she is doing and you want to blame the teacher or school board every time Johnny or Suzy doesn't do well etc. Then you are the problem not the school. So the being rich theory doesn't hold any water for me. JMHO.

Sorry, you're clueless here. You ARE rich compared to many people. You own a home? You purchased into a school district? Exactly. A single mother breaking her back working two or maybe three jobs who is interested in not seeing her kid go to a slum school deserves the choice to opt out. Here's a news flash - affordable housing and good school districts don't go hand in hand. So while you can look down on the kids who are poor I would much prefer to grab the ones who have an interest in succeeding and give them whatever help they need. They don't deserve to be trapped in a building full of crime, either just because their skin is not white or because their mother doesn't speak English.

This is the worst case of NIMBY I've seen on the DIS.

 

[grinningghost]

Isn't that nice that you had the time, energy, desire, and know-how to jump through all those hoops to help your daughter. Now imagine my situation with a single mother without a great command of English who worked full time and was not well versed in "hoop jumping."

Well, I'm not very well versed in hoop jumping at all actually. I was more than willing to pay the tuition, but after going through several different officials in the school district, it was suggested that she might be able to finish up without paying the tuition - PROVIDED she was found to be deserving of that opportunity.

Apparently, she was.

 

[MassJester]

I think it's worse than stealing.

It's teaching your child that it is ok to lie and cheat. Not the sort of values that I'd hope get taught at home.