$5,000 reward for turning in DISD magnet cheaters (Dallas, Plano: apartment complex, leases)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

I guess I still dont know how these families are willing to risk this even with the legal consequences. I remember there was a woman (in another state) who went to jail for lying about her son's residency to get him into better schools. I love my kids to death but I'm not going to jail for that.

It’s called a hefty dose of entitlement. They think the rules don’t apply to them so they don’t even consider the legal risk. (At least speaking of those whom I have personally known who do this).

[loves2read]

The has been no risk before ergo no consequences
Will be interesting if something actually happens from this

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

Technically I think you are correct. If you live in DISD ("really" live in DISD) then yes you should have an equal shot, but my heart says no. Someone who does not buy into DISD, but swoops in to get the cream shouldnt be in the same group as someone who was in DISD schools from the get go. I dont see much difference between the private school DISD resident and the Collin County resident. My guess is the private schooler lives in Dallas mainly because the private school and maybe job are located in Dallas, not due to any love for the DISD schools.

The difference is that I pay taxes to DISD year in and year out, and the Collin county cheater doesn’t. My kids also don’t have a strong suburban fallback school if magnets don’t work out. Private school is both expensive and admission is not a sure thing. If you can’t see the difference, I think you lack critical thinking skills.

[jgn2013]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

It’s hardly fair to penalize in-district talent because they aren’t born in Dallas. 100,000 people a year are moving to DFW. DISD desperately needs more middle class families in their schools (and I don’t mean “city data” middle class aka $150-200k HHI). I like your sentiment but a brilliant musician whose parents just relocated to Dallas from Tennessee, El Paso or wherever doesn’t deserve 1/10th the chance of admission that someone born in Dallas has. That’s still an unfair, uneven playing field - just skewed to the opposite end of the spectrum as today’s issue.

If for some reason there aren't enough slots, allowances can be made. I think the most important aspect of my 'plan' (lol) is that DISD kids get first dibs, even if there aren't enough of them to fill all the spots. They shouldn't have to wait in line behind others in their own district.

[Katana49]

Well, if someone is paying to rent a place in DISD, I don't see how they can actively check whether a student is actually living there or not, they just don't have the resources to do that. It would also require checks multiple times a year in the case of short term rentals, so they have come up with this program to reward families to police the issue themselves.



I don't know. People who are "gaming the system" as it were are paying a pretty hefty amount, probably $15-20K a year, to establish residency for DISD. Seems to me DISD is going about this all wrong, and instead of spending more of their money trying to fight this, they should be actively taking that $15k a year for an out of district student to have a spot, and institute a tuition based system as a portion of their enrollees. Some DISD kids will be pushed out due to lack of spots, but they're being pushed out now anyway, and this way, DISD is at least benefiting from the money these out of district parents are spending. With the money being brought by a new tuition system, DISD could be making strides towards expanding BTW or building another school to allow more students to enroll.



It's a lot like trying to deport all illegals in this country. Our government spends billions on rounding them up, housing them in detention centers, and then deporting them... and not even making a dent, we're just hemorrhaging money with nothing long term to show for it. It's a stupid way to try to curb illegal immigration, when what we should be doing is bringing these people who are already here and not going anywhere, into the fold and making them pay taxes along a path towards legal residency.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by jgn2013

If for some reason there aren't enough slots, allowances can be made. I think the most important aspect of my 'plan' (lol) is that DISD kids get first dibs, even if there aren't enough of them to fill all the spots. They shouldn't have to wait in line behind others in their own district.

I agree that anyone in DISD (who actually sleeps in a bed in DISD at night) should get first dibs. But it shouldn’t matter how long they’ve lived there.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

The difference is that I pay taxes to DISD year in and year out, and the Collin county cheater doesn’t. My kids also don’t have a strong suburban fallback school if magnets don’t work out. Private school is both expensive and admission is not a sure thing. If you can’t see the difference, I think you lack critical thinking skills.

Ah, but the Collin County cheater DOES also pay taxes to DISD (if they are renting an apartment, a portion of the rent goes towards taxes. It's a common misconception that renters dont pay property taxes, yes they do). So again, what's the difference between the two of you? Neither one of you has any real vested interest in the overall well being of DISD, having made the decision to either live out of district or enroll in private school in district. (Note this is not directed at you personally so dont take this as an attack).

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by Katana49

Well, if someone is paying to rent a place in DISD, I don't see how they can actively check whether a student is actually living there or not, they just don't have the resources to do that. It would also require checks multiple times a year in the case of short term rentals, so they have come up with this program to reward families to police the issue themselves.



I don't know. People who are "gaming the system" as it were are paying a pretty hefty amount, probably $15-20K a year, to establish residency for DISD. Seems to me DISD is going about this all wrong, and instead of spending more of their money trying to fight this, they should be actively taking that $15k a year for an out of district student to have a spot, and institute a tuition based system as a portion of their enrollees. Some DISD kids will be pushed out due to lack of spots, but they're being pushed out now anyway, and this way, DISD is at least benefiting from the money these out of district parents are spending. With the money being brought by a new tuition system, DISD could be making strides towards expanding BTW or building another school to allow more students to enroll.



It's a lot like trying to deport all illegals in this country. Our government spends billions on rounding them up, housing them in detention centers, and then deporting them... and not even making a dent, we're just hemorrhaging money with nothing long term to show for it. It's a stupid way to try to curb illegal immigration, when what we should be doing is bringing these people who are already here and not going anywhere, into the fold and making them pay taxes along a path towards legal residency.

One interesting side bar on this to me; why wouldnt the Collin County schools get together and have their own BTW equivalent? I'm guessing there are enough kids who would fit the bill in Collin County that if say Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney got together and built their own magnet school for the arts, the following would happen:
1) they would have enough qualified kids to make it worth while,
2) Keep those gifted students and the resulting tuition dollars in Collin County,
3) I'm sure those parents would GREATLY prefer to not have to make the drive down to Dallas and pay for an apartment to keep residency,
4) and finally BTW would finally be able to serve its own DISD residents like it's supposed to.
Seems like a win win for everyone.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

Ah, but the Collin County cheater DOES also pay taxes to DISD (if they are renting an apartment, a portion of the rent goes towards taxes. It's a common misconception that renters dont pay property taxes, yes they do). So again, what's the difference between the two of you? Neither one of you has any real vested interest in the overall well being of DISD, having made the decision to either live out of district or enroll in private school in district. (Note this is not directed at you personally so dont take this as an attack).

Obviously I know renters pay taxes indirectly. The difference is that a suburban family who temporarily rents an apartment but continues to live out of district is not, in fact, a resident by any reasonable definition of the word. As a resident living in DISD boundaries I have a vested interest in the long term success of the district, even if I am not using it to educate my children. And as a point of fact, I am incredibly active in raising money for all local public schools in Oak Cliff despite being a private school parent and I am very active in policy and school board related issues. It’s because as a resident this is my community, and most people care about their communities. If a Plano family rents the apartment to gain in district status but fails to get into Booker T, they just let the lease expire, and go back to their regular lives. That’s the difference.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

One interesting side bar on this to me; why wouldnt the Collin County schools get together and have their own BTW equivalent? I'm guessing there are enough kids who would fit the bill in Collin County that if say Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney got together and built their own magnet school for the arts, the following would happen:
1) they would have enough qualified kids to make it worth while,
2) Keep those gifted students and the resulting tuition dollars in Collin County,
3) I'm sure those parents would GREATLY prefer to not have to make the drive down to Dallas and pay for an apartment to keep residency,
4) and finally BTW would finally be able to serve its own DISD residents like it's supposed to.
Seems like a win win for everyone.

They should, but they won't because they are competing against each other.


Each district would want the magnet located in their city. Each city would want their city to have the greatest number of students enrolled, and to control the enrollment of neighboring cities.