Homeless Woman Arrested, Charged With 'Theft' For Sending Her 5-Year-Old To School

by Carol Scott · 2011-04-26 11:38:00 UTC
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UPDATE: 7:24 p.m., Tuesday, April 26: Kelley Williams-Bolar has just released a statement through her attorney, David Singleton of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center:

I would like to thank Gwen Samuel and the Connecticut Parents Union for inviting me to attend [Wednesday's] press conference. Unfortunately, I was not able to travel outside of Akron due to the conditions of my probation.

However, I would like to offer my support of Tanya McDowell. My heart goes out to her and her son during this difficult time. I know what it is like to be a single mother trying to do the very best for your children under less than ideal circumstances.

I would like to thank everyone here and across the country for showing their support for myself, for Tonya, and for the issues that brought us to where we are today. My hope is that one day no parent will have to face criminal charges for making decisions about how to educate their children and keep them safe.

Thank you.

Original Post: Most nights, Tanya McDowell sleeps in a minivan. Other nights, she sleeps at a shelter or at a friend's house. So when it was time for her 5-year-old son, A.J., to go to school, she wrote down her babysitter's address to sign him up for kindergarten.

Little did she know, sending A.J. to kindergarten at Brookside Elementary School in Norwalk, Connecticut could mean 20 years in jail and a $15,000 penalty for the unemployed single mom. Tanya was arrested this month and charged with first-degree larceny for allegedly "stealing her son's education." Norwalk authorities say that since A.J. doesn't live within district limits, it's illegal for him to attend kindergarten in the district - and his mom is a criminal for enrolling him there. A local activist has created a petition on Change.org, urging Norwalk officials to drop the charges and stop punishing a mother who wanted what was best for her child.

"I'm still in shock," Tanya said in an interview with the Norwalk Patch this week. "What did I do wrong? I just want the best for my kid. It's like any mom or any dad out there."

The fact that a parent could do jail time simply for sending her child to public school is reminiscent of the story of Kelley Williams-Bolar of Ohio. Nearly 100,000 Change.org members signed a petition started on the site early this year, demanding that Ohio Governor John Kasich pardon Williams-Bolar, who was convicted of a felony for sending her children to a neighboring school district. Her case became a national story, used by advocates and politicians to argue for school choice and against criminalizing parents. Gov. Kasich referred her case to the state's Parole Board; a decision is expected this summer.

Education activists are rallying around Tanya (whose name has been spelled in some press reports as 'Tonya McDowell'); the Connecticut Parents Union is running a press conference Wednesday morning before her arraignment, and Dr. Boyce Watkins, a noted professor and speaker, is taking up Tanya's case on CNN and in the national media. The Change.org petition is already yielding results - Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia told FOX News that he's received emails in support of McDowell from across the country.

The federal McKinney-Vento Act - passed by Congress in 1987 to make it easier for homeless children to attend school - requires public schools to educate homeless students (and sets aside federal money for them to do so). This should make Tanya's situation a non-issue - but Norwalk Mayor Moccia is instead choosing to dwell on Tanya's past addresses (Tanya has spent time in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut), a decade-old criminal conviction and recent arrests as reasons why she should be forced to pay the school district back more than $15,000 for sending her child to kindergarten for a portion of the school year.

"This is not a poor, picked-upon homeless person," Moccia told FOX News. "This is an ex con, and somehow the city of Norwalk is made into the ogre in this. She has a checkered past at best."

It's unconscionable to jail a parent who simply enrolls their child in public school - it's even worse to try to distract from the issue by assassinating her character. Stand up for Tanya and A.J.: Sign the petition and tell your friends!

Carol Scott is the Education Editor for Change.org.

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