Mother gets 5 years in prison for "stealing free education"

[CaseAgainstFaith]

NORWALK -- A Bridgeport woman arrested last year on a charge of stealing her 6-year-old son's education in Norwalk pleaded guilty Wednesday to larceny and subsequent drug charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Tanya McDowell, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community under the Alford doctrine, indicating she disagrees with the state's facts of the case but understands she would probably be convicted if the case went to trial.

McDowell's attorney, Darnell Crosland, said his client agreed to accept the plea bargain rather than continue fighting the charges.

"You shouldn't be arrested for stealing a free education," she said. "It's just wrong."

Wearing leg shackles, handcuffs and a large light gray sweatsuit, McDowell also quietly pleaded guilty to three counts of selling drugs to an undercover police officer.

In all, McDowell was sentenced to 12 years in jail, suspended after she serves five years, with five years probation.

McDowell pleaded guilty earlier this month in Bridgeport to two counts of selling narcotics to undercover police officers. She is to be sentenced on the Bridgeport charges March 27 and faces up to five years in jail for those convictions.

source - http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Mom-accused-of-stealing-education-pleads-guilty-3354273.php

What the hell? My mind is blown -

[Eniliad]

Wait- I don't even get it. Drug charges I understand, but... they never explained the "stealing education" bit.

[QueenofHearts]

Wait- I don't even get it. Drug charges I understand, but... they never explained the "stealing education" bit.

It looks like she sent her son to school the wrong district.

[DiscoBerry]

Yeah I am confused too

[TheUnknown]

Wait- I don't even get it. Drug charges I understand, but... they never explained the "stealing education" bit.

It looks like she sent her son to school the wrong district.

This would be my guess.  If you want to send your child to a school outside of your district, you have to pay, even if it's a public school.  When I was in high school, there was guy whose dad paid money for him to go to my district school because he felt the one in his district was worse.

[SimSim]

The woman was homeless at the time of arrest and living inside a van.

[Lt. Fred]

She sent her child to a good school in a different district, instead of the less-funded school in her district. My understanding is that the US education system is heavily decentralised, causing outrageous inequities in funding. And she got sent to jail for double a rape sentence, or quadruple an average billionaire fraudster.

[Eniliad]

Well that, and multiple drug charges.

[nickiknack]

She sent her child to a good school in a different district, instead of the less-funded school in her district. My understanding is that the US education system is heavily decentralised, causing outrageous inequities in funding. And she got sent to jail for double a rape sentence, or quadruple an average billionaire fraudster.

BINGO, hey here's radical idea let's try and give decent funding to all pubic school districts, then we won't have stuff like this happen...

[Osama bin Bambi]

Ah, Connecticut. I used to live there. The problem with Connecticut schools is that switching districts is next to impossible. Also, there are clear boundaries between the rich neighborhoods and everyone else. This means that the rich neighborhoods continue to get good funding and the rich kids are sent there without having to pay any money. However, if you're in a non-rich district then your education is basically fucked. It's a horrendous cycle over there.

Here in Washington, switching schools is as easy as giving waivers to both districts and (provided you're not a kid with a history of violence or anything) you'll be accepted. When you switch districts, your taxpayer dollars that would normally be sent to the school district you were originally zoned for are sent to your district of choice instead. This creates competition and flexibility among the districts. They will actively try to improve their schools with the money they get, which in turn will attract more taxpayers.

[nickiknack]

Here in Washington, switching schools is as easy as giving waivers to both districts and (provided you're not a kid with a history of violence or anything) you'll be accepted. When you switch districts, your taxpayer dollars that would normally be sent to the school district you were originally zoned for are sent to your district of choice instead. This creates competition and flexibility among the districts. They will actively try to improve their schools with the money they get, which in turn will attract more taxpayers.

I like this idea rather than the usaul "Let's pull the good kids out of public and send them to private schools, and let the public schools rot".

[Witchyjoshy]

Hell, if she's homeless, I understand why she'd sell drugs.

...That being said, going to jail for 5 years because you're sending your kid to the wrong district?

Classism at its finest :-/

[N. De Plume]

Here in Washington, switching schools is as easy as giving waivers to both districts and (provided you're not a kid with a history of violence or anything) you'll be accepted. When you switch districts, your taxpayer dollars that would normally be sent to the school district you were originally zoned for are sent to your district of choice instead. This creates competition and flexibility among the districts. They will actively try to improve their schools with the money they get, which in turn will attract more taxpayers.

I like this idea rather than the usaul "Let's pull the good kids out of public and send them to private schools, and let the public schools rot".

I think the idea has merit.

Hell, if she's homeless, I understand why she'd sell drugs.

...That being said, going to jail for 5 years because you're sending your kid to the wrong district?

Classism at its finest :-/

Class warfare! We got class warfare, over here!  [/1%]

[MaybeNever]

Here in Washington, switching schools is as easy as giving waivers to both districts and (provided you're not a kid with a history of violence or anything) you'll be accepted. When you switch districts, your taxpayer dollars that would normally be sent to the school district you were originally zoned for are sent to your district of choice instead. This creates competition and flexibility among the districts. They will actively try to improve their schools with the money they get, which in turn will attract more taxpayers.

I like this idea rather than the usaul "Let's pull the good kids out of public and send them to private schools, and let the public schools rot".

If you're talking about voucher programs, that's not actually what happens.

[Dantes Virgil]

Wearing leg shackles, handcuffs and a large light gray sweatsuit, McDowell also quietly pleaded guilty to three counts of selling drugs to an undercover police officer.
In all, McDowell was sentenced to 12 years in jail, suspended after she serves five years, with five years probation.
McDowell pleaded guilty earlier this month in Bridgeport to two counts of selling narcotics to undercover police officers. She is to be sentenced on the Bridgeport charges March 27 and faces up to five years in jail for those convictions.  As part of the plea bargain, McDowell would be able to serve the sentences from Norwalk and Bridgeport concurrently.  Crosland said he tried to separate the drug cases from the school case, but prosecutors and the judge would not split them. He said she was facing much more than 15 years in jail if he took all the cases to trial.  As a result, he was forced to take an "all or nothing deal," he said after the hearing.
As part of her probation, Hudock said McDowell will have to make restitution to Norwalk in an amount that cannot exceed $6,200 -- the estimated cost of her son's education.

From the article.  So I guess they wrapped the drug charges in with the other charge and wouldn't let them all be tried separately and the article makes it sound like that was probably the better deal, given what else she was facing? 

Also:

When she was picked up on the drug charges, police found her in front of Brookside Elementary School holding 30 small bags of marijuana and 23 small bags of crack cocaine, prosecutor Tiffany Lockshier said during her sentencing hearing.

Suzanne Vieux, the lead prosecutor in Norwalk, called the resolution of the case "fair."

"This was a known drug dealer, as she was charged with sale of narcotics offenses in November of 2010, who admitted under oath in January of 2011 that she lived in Bridgeport while enrolling her child in Norwalk school system," Vieux said in an email. "While there were many issues regarding educational inequities that were openly debated and ignited by this case, that should in no way deter from the fact that individuals who use city services to further their illegal narcotic conduct will be held accountable."

Eeek.    Sounds like more was going on than just putting her kid in the wrong district.