Schools across the nation have been creating programs that will target parents who are trying to send their kids to a school in a different district to help them obtain a better education at a school that receives more funding. The parents that they catch in those programs are then being turned over to authorities who are charging them with theft.
New Jersey school districts are one of the states that have made it clear that they will not tolerate the kind of “address swapping” that parents are using to fill out school enrollment forms. State agencies recently made it clear that they instituted address-verification programs that would ensure that children are going to school in the district of their primary residence.
Some of the programs across the nation go as far as hiring independent investigative services – like VerifyResidence.com – to track children as they travel from school to their homes. Other programs that have been instituted ask peers and their parents to participate in the investigation. Some districts have even offered monetary rewards as high as $250 for information that leads to finding an out-of-district student.
Parents will do almost anything to ensure that their child grows up to become the best person they can be. Students in low income areas are often prevented from utilizing their full learning capacity simply because their school has fewer resources to pay their teachers with, spend on educational equipment or programs that provide opportunity for students who want to achieve. Parents with no criminal record are now facing felony criminal charges for their attempts, being called thieves.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, “The Latest Crime Wave: Sending Your Child to a Better School,” Michael Flaherty, Oct. 1, 2011