The Best Education In America Is Still For the Wealthy and Segregated

It is all over the web today and in the "mainstream" media that Kelley Williams-Bolar, a single Ohio mother, was sentenced to ten days in jail and three years probation for fraud and theft because she sent her children to a school that was not zoned for her living area in an underprivileged and under-served neighborhood!

I am not saying that people should break laws that are in place but I am saying that it is time for some education laws to be changed!  The judge in this case failed epically.

Williams-Bolar alleged she was being singled out.
"I don't think they wanted money?" Williams-Bolar said. "They wanted me to be an example."

Cosgrove confirmed the viewpoint.
"I felt that some punishment or deterrent was needed for other individuals who might think to defraud the various school districts," Cosgrove said.

The American educational system is a fraud!  Judge Patricia Cosgrove could have brought emphasis to the disparity in education based on residency instead of using the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar as an example to deter other parents from resorting to falsifying a residency to obtain a better education for their children.  Judge Cosgrove has ruled that access to a great education for your child in America means having the right zip code.

Pastor Lorenzo Glenn of Macdeonia Baptist Church stood before the bench and also addressed the judge before sentencing. He, too, asked for leniency, saying his own church has a mentoring program well suited for probation in lieu of prison time.

Glenn told the judge that he has known Williams-Bolar for more than 20 years and was ''overwhelmed'' by the news of her convictions Saturday night.

''This is a serious matter, but by all means,'' Glenn said, ''it was done to help her children.''

The effort put into prosecuting the case, Glenn added, ''is just sad. When I see all the media here today, you'd think it was a serial killing.''

Newly elected Governor Kasich might want to consider taking a look at this case because it is really isn't the best publicity for the state of Ohio.

Education, employment and residence in America are controlled by the privileged in our society and still utilized as a way of determining someone's worth.  There is no worthwhile reason why any child living in America shouldn't have the same opportunities for a great education.  Should there have been acknowledgment that the way in which Mrs. Bolar tried to attain a better education for her children by breaking school residency laws was wrong? Yes.  But in no way should she have been sentenced in the manner that she was because now the judge has taken away her ability to attain her degree in teaching which would have provided a better life for her children and herself.  So really what did the judge prove other than the fact that she can judicially steal an education.

Creating an educational system that offers the same quality education to all students no matter where you live is what is necessary in America because property tax based education funding automatically creates a disadvantage for those that live in less privileged areas.  Corporations should also be required to commit to funding better schools as well.  Either we commit to educating all children equally by offering the best in education to all or we all are going to all suffer the repercussions.  Just look at your local news.

Let me not forget to mention the fact that the benevolent(hardly) Copley-Fairlawn school district paid for surveillance of Kelley Williams-Bolar and others to prove that they lived outside the district.  I wonder what that cost?

UPDATE:  Kelley Williams-Bolar has been released after serving one day in jail.

Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove gave Williams-Bolar credit for one day of time served when she was arrested and jailed on multiple felony charges in November 2009, court records show.

That is great Judge Cosgrove.  Now can all of you intelligent legal minds get together and do something about the felony charges.