
Check out this eyebrow raising story from Ohio. Apparently, Kelley Williams-Bolar tried to give her kids a better life by sending her children to the nearby majority-White school district where her father lives — and she went to jail for it. Now her career as a teacher is in jeopardy.
I for one believe that rules that restrict people from being able to opt into any school district they like are important. And not because I think kids shouldn’t be able to go to good schools, but because I understand that public dollars are scarce and should be reserved for tax payers’ services. After all, far too many people from outside the community get publicly funded jobs and don’t live in the communities that they serve, and those monies never get back into the public coffers. Many municipalities across the country have rules that force their cops, teachers and other civil servants to live within the district. So, in short, it goes both way.
Programs like the Milwaukee Public Schools’ Chapter 220, which aims to ameliorate the impacts of segregation by reserving spots for children of color in suburban schools, are decent policy fixes for the inherent problems and inequalities attached to education. And I might get smacked by my progressive friends, but I also think school choice is a way to fix some of this as well. (Of course, the best way to stop stuff like this is to just fix public schools.)
But at the end of the day, real justice requires that the punishment fit the crime; what Williams-Bolar is facing is clearly over the top. Call on Ohio Governor John Kasich to publicly denounce her punishment and also do all he can to right this wrong.
Go here to help Williams-Bolar help…this is just silly.