Editor's comment: In the United States, Federal, state and local governments get meaner and meaner every day. Tonya McDowell, homeless and living in a van wanted a better education for her son. So she used her girlfriend's address to enroll him in a higher income school district. She was arrested by police in Connecticut and charged with first degree larceny which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  When asked why she enrolled her son at a Norwalk, Connecticut elementary school, Ms. McDowell answered, 

"The school was better than the one in Bridgeport. I want the best for my child. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I think a lot of parents in my situation would have done the same."

The three news reports, republished below, provide more details on this story.

-Les Blough, Editor

Tonya McDowell, 33, homeless, arrested for trying to give her son a better education by enrolling him in a wealthier school district.

Cops Bust Homeless Woman for Sending Child to School
Police say she stole $15,000 in costs to cover her kid's education.
Bob Connors, NBC Connecticut 

A homeless and unemployed woman from Bridgeport has been arrested for enrolling her 5-year-old son at a Norwalk elementary school.

Tonya McDowell, 33, is accused of stealing $15,000 -- the cost of her son's public education -- from the Norwalk School District, according to the Stamford Advocate.  She was arrested last Thursday.

“I was just walking to eat lunch at the shelter and they jumped out and locked me up,” she said.

Her son was kicked out of Brookside in December because of the residency issue and McDowell enrolled him in Bridgeport schools, and she thought that was the end of it.

But, police began investigating in January, after the Norwalk Housing Authority filed a complaint that McDowell had registered her son at Brookside Elementary School in Norwalk, even though she had been living in an apartment on Priscilla Street in Bridgeport.

McDowell admitted to police she was allowed to sleep in the apartment on Priscilla Street in Bridgeport by the tenant, but had to leave during the day, according to the Advocate.  She also told police she sometimes stayed at an emergency shelter in Norwalk.

Police say McDowell used the Norwalk address of the boy's babysitter to register him at the school. After the investigation, the babysitter was evicted.

"At the time, I was just staying in my van and not having anywhere to go," McDowell said.

McDowell’s story hits home for Gwen Samuel, an unemployed parent from Meriden who is fighting for Tanya’s son and other children who could easily get lost in this education shuffle.

“It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense at all,” she said. “We, as the adults need to figure this system out. This is not OK, under no circumstances.”

Samuel has contacted legislators for help and is coordinating a grassroots effort to support McDowell, even though the two have never met.

Typically, when there is a residency question, a private investigator is hired to handle the matter, authorities said, so why this time police were called in resulting in criminal charges is unclear.

Lt. Paul Resnick said this is the first time he has heard of this happened.

"Usually when they find a kid out of district, they send him back.  I have never heard of people being arrested for it," Norwalk Board of Education Chairman Jack Chiaramonte told the Advocate.

The apparent crackdown may have something to do with the city's tightening budget.

"This now sends a message to other parents that may have been living in other towns and registering their kids with phony addresses," Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia said.

McDowell, whose last known address was in Bridgeport, is facing first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny charges, the paper reported.

Source: NBC Connecticut

Tonya McDowell, Homeless Woman, Arrested For Sending Son To School Using Babysitter's Address
Huffington Post

A homeless mother has been arrested for sending her child to a public school in an area where they didn't live.

Tonya McDowell is being charged with first-degree larceny for stealing $15,686 in education funds from the Norwalk, Conn. school district, the Stamford Advocate reports (below).

McDowell and her 6-year-old son don't have a permanent address, but split their time between a homeless shelter and a friend's apartment in Bridgeport. McDowell, however, used her son's babysitter's address to falsely register him for a Norwalk elementary school.

McDowell's arrest is a startlingly severe punishment for her crime. Most families caught sending children to schools in areas where they don't live are allowed to pull the students from the school without consequence.

The babysitter, Ana Rebecca Marques, is also being punished. She has been evicted from public housing for her role in helping McDowell get her son into the school.

The case is likely being used as an example to deter others from committing the same crime.

According to the Stamford Advocate, Mayor Richard Moccia said of the case,

"This now sends a message to other parents that may have been living in other towns and registering their kids with phony addresses

Earlier this year, Ohio mother Kelley Williams-Bolar faced similar charges and was convicted of a felony for falsifying records to send her children to a better school.

The two cases highlight the rising trend of school officials trying to weed out students who don't live in their districts.

According to the Associated Press:

Education officials say cases tend to surface more when budgets are tight and in areas where there are significant disparities between districts such as in academic success or local income level -- particularly in wealthier districts near urban areas. That often means the districts in question also have racial disparities.

The discussion of Williams-Bolar's case has prompted a fierce debate over educational equity and school choice.

Source: Huffington Post

Bridgeport woman arrested for registering son in Norwalk school
by John Nickerson, Stamford Advocate

NORWALK -- A homeless woman from Bridgeport who enrolled her 6-year-old son at a Norwalk elementary school has become the first in the city to be charged with stealing more than $15,000 for the cost of her child's education.

Tonya McDowell, 33, whose last known address was 66 Priscilla St., Bridgeport, was charged Thursday with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for allegedly stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools. She was released after posting a $25,000 bond.

McDowell's babysitter, Ana Rebecca Marques, was also evicted from her Roodner Court public housing apartment for providing documents to enroll the child at Brookside Elementary School.

The police investigation into the residency began in January after Norwalk Housing Authority attorney Donna Lattarulo filed a complaint alleging McDowell registered her son at Brookside, but actually lived in an apartment on Priscilla Street in Bridgeport.

As part of the evidence presented in the complaint, police received an affidavit of residency signed by McDowell and dated last September attesting that she lived in the Roodner Court public housing complex on Ely Ave.

When she was interviewed by police in the case, McDowell admitted to living in Bridgeport at the time she registered her son in Norwalk schools.

She said she knew a man who owned a home on Priscilla Street and he allowed her to sleep at the home at night, but she had to leave the home during the day until he returned from work.

She also acknowledged that she stays from time to time at the Norwalk Emergency Shelter when she has nowhere else to stay.

McDowell also admitted that Marques was her son's babysitter from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. after the boy got out of school.

After the Norwalk Housing Authority became aware that Marques helped McDowell by providing documents needed to get McDowell's son into Brookside, Marques was evicted from her apartment in January.

McDowell's attorney, Supervisory Assistant Public Defender Elizabeth Reid, said she could not comment because she has not yet reviewed the arrest with McDowell.

McDowell's arrest marks the first time Norwalk Board of Education Vice Chairman Glenn Iannaccone has heard of someone facing criminal charges for sending their child to Norwalk schools.

"This is the first time I have heard something like this where there has been an arrest. Other allegations like this have been handled by the central office. I'm not sure if the police have been involved," Iannaccone said.

There is always speculation that students are attending Norwalk schools from outside the district, Iannaccone said, and the school system hires private investigators to look into the allegations.

"Maybe this is the district's way of cracking down on this," he said.

A call for comment to schools Superintendent Dr. Susan Marks was not immediately returned.

Norwalk Board of Education Chairman Jack Chiaramonte expressed surprise at McDowell's arrest and the investigation that led to it.

"I don't get that at all," Chiaramonte said. "Usually when they find a kid out of district, they send him back. I have never heard of people being arrested for it, but I am not sure of the law. For my understanding, whenever we find someone from another district we send them back."

Mayor Richard Moccia said that he was aware that an investigation was proceeding in the case and that an arrest was possible.

"This now sends a message to other parents that may have been living in other towns and registering their kids with phony addresses," he said.

While Moccia said it was sad the case involves a woman who appears to be homeless, he pointed out that if she had been living at the Norwalk shelter and registered her child there she would not be facing charges now.

While he would not divulge whether more cases like this are now being readied for criminal prosecution, Moccia said, as budgets get tighter, efforts to identify out-of-district students will intensify.

"I think there is a more concerted effort to identify and question and if necessary go to the final link to arrest," Moccia said. "But nobody wants to arrest mothers and fathers."

Norwalk defense attorney Michael Corsello, who several years ago represented a woman charged with first-degree larceny for sending her children to Weston schools while living at the Hi-Ho Motel in Fairfield, said he wondered why authorities chose to make McDowell the example.

"There are some people where you could effect restitution through the criminal justice system. If the woman is homeless then restitution probably is not possible," said Corsello, who is also employed by Norwalk schools as an expulsion hearing officer.

"I am surprised that this is the case they chose to make an example of," Corsello said. "Obviously, doing this will have a deterring effect on others doing the same thing, but you would think they could get similar evidence on someone with more ability to pay restitution."

Source: Stamford Advocate