If the school your child attends does not meet requirments for 2 years
for bad test scores then your child can apply for the no child left behind act. I know that each school that does meet requirments have only a certain number of slots available. It also depends on the level of need for the child applying.

That program is useless and you know it. too many variables, and why should the smartest students be seperated from the dummies? Didn't we used to have seperate but unequal?

Clayton County has deteriorated down to almost a ghetto level of gangs, thugs and hoodlums in the classrooms.

It wouldn't be the test scores as much as it would be to get a kid out of that kind of culture and environment.

I went to Clayton County schools for a while growing up and it was starting to get bad when I was in high school. But look at Columbine, it wasn't noted for gangs and thugs but the white boys went berzerk and killed several. I guess you never can tell huh?

I am sure this is not the only family that has done this. I am for the prosecution, but I still feel that the overcrowding of certain schools are not the out of county students, but the fact that 4 to 3 years ago "special rquests" were taken and students are going OUT OF DISTRICT. That is where my "beef" with the BOE lies.

In 1982, the court ruled in a Texas case, Plyler Vs. Doe, that all children have a constitutional right to a public education, regardless of their immigration status.

P.S.

Some states even give them "In state" tuition status, so an American Citizen from Georgia going to say USC must pay out of state, but an undocumented person just across the border gets in state, go figure.

Kids shouldn't be educated due to their parents being undocumented? Charge them out of state tuition to discourage their education, They are not from a state.
I suggest we also do the following: sort out all dummies at 5 and send them to Texas hill country into cabins; if you end up poor at 21, send to Haiti; have a skin color detector down to the 1000th shade, and if you don't read at least 90% light, send to Liberia; if you make less than 1200 on your first SAT test, go directly to the army infantry as a major; base hourly pay on the color meter also, anything below 1100 gets 5.00 dollars per hour, more as score goes up, all the way to 6.00 dollars; if they make less than 1000 on SAT, put them on the Supreme Court as a Conservative representative.

You missed the point. I want you to explain to me how it is aceptable to ARREST U.S. citizens for sending their kids to a school in the wrong county while ignoring the fact that the same county probably educating the children of people who are in this country, not the county, the COUNTRY, illegally. And despite what you may think or wish, entering this country without following the proper procedures is just that, ILLEGAL.

I'm not saying the parents who are sending their kids to school in the wrong county should not be punished but it does seem twisted to me to go after our own citizens with such zeal while giving the citizens of another country a pass. And yes, that includes charging American citizens out of state tuition while debating giving
in-state tuition to citizens of, say it with me, ANOTHER COUNTRY. Just remember you don't have a problem with that if your kid decides to go to another state to attend college.

By the way, I like how you try to make it a racial issue instead of a legal issue. You even managed to get in a shot on the military. Bravo.

I think the questions to be asked, that haven't been answered here are:

Did this family own property in Fayette County _before_ the start of the school year?

If so, had they paid their property taxes up until the end of the year like I had done when I recently sold my house?

Because if so, they are paid up until the end of the year. Period.

property in Fayette County is not a license to enroll your kids here illegally. The requirements are that you live here, period, owning property is not eve required.

Taxpayers in Fayette County should not foot the bill for kids that live outside the county, and I don't entertain whiny liberals who would impose an undue tax on me to educate someone else's kids.

And for the record, I AM NOT a whiny liberal.... far from it.

Did the family LIVE in Fayette County at the time of the affidavit signing?

Perhaps you shouldn't put too much faith in the comprehensive investigative journalism of the citizen* and question the things that you read. (This is one thing you might have in common with 'whiny liberals")

I have a really good feeling that their side of the story has some interesting facts, especially since neither they are their lawyers are speaking out about it.

Remember, we have only heard one side of this story, and I for one am not going to be so quick to judge and take sides with the DA. (Remember.. innocent until proven guilty.) Perhaps one should look into how many cases this particular Scott Ballad has successfully tried recently?

I think it will be interesting to see if this case goes anywhere. I hope that it gets just as much attention when the family is cleared... in fact, I'd love to see the day that they offer a public apology to these ladies and to the taxpayers of Fayette County for wasting their money on a case that should have never been tried in the first place.

My bet is with the Slay family. Call me what you will, but even after moving far, far away to get away from the screwed up politics in Fayette County, I'm still not surprised by the behavior of the city and county officials (especially those in the school system). Even sadder, though, is that I still find myself shocked by the hypocritical and very un-Christian behavior of many of it's self-righteous citizens in a case like this, where we still haven’t heard the other side of the story.

*Note- this is sarcasm, but I’m aware that it’s a small publication.

Our taxes wouldn't be reduced one penney if a few out of district kids were denied, but they should be on a basis of principle. The problem is that so many are allowed here, legally (work here, etc) No one understands that. If 30 kids were denied, I would love to see the cash saved (I guess 75,000 dollars, per the detractors). There is a constant cost to run a school system, and the only time the cost goes up substantially is when a new building has to be built, otherwise another teacher or two mean little. This is the USA, not Georgia or Fayette.

There is nothing in the constitution about education. Public education is a states rights issue. Our state has a funding formula that requires we have students in districts. The only state with ONE district is Hawaii. 30 kids would be, at minimum, $210,000 per year. Every year. If you think the cost of operating a school does not, or has not increased you don't understand pay raises, the cost of utilities, and the cost of food, water, sewage and maintainance increases. An entirely seperate funding model is used for facilities. Kids are not denied the right to attend school anywhere, including Fayette County where several students attend on legitimate affidavits or under the homeless act. Socialist priciples that everyone is 'entitled' to the same everything, like going to schools in other districs flies in the face of why the people in this county pay so much for so little house. Welcome to the real America.

If the few illegals (not the employees kids) did reduce expenses you would have a point. They wouldn't. The saved money, if they could find it, would immediately go for salaries, etc., supplies, trips. Nothing would reduce our taxes. By the way, why is "two women" being prosecuted for their kids going to Fayette County schools illegally. Is this another case of no Father? Seems to me that these women have enough on their plate without a Father.

Look, I don't want to foot the bill for anyone else either, but you make a very valid point that has troubled me ever since the whole debate got attention in the last year or two. How is it so WRONG to want your kids to have the best education possible? I know the costs of 7K a year and all that, but please, there has to be a better way than throwing someone in jail who wants their kid to have a better public school education.

I put the blame for this big ugly on the BOE who has acted as arrogantly and non-responsive as some of the worst BOE's of the past, and that's saying something. Due to their neglect and pure arrogance, this issue has turned into a "big situation" that could have been prevented and handled otherwise if they had dealt with it way before now.

NUK

NUK WROTE: Due to their neglect and pure arrogance, this issue has turned into a "big situation" that could have been prevented and handled otherwise if they had dealt with it way before now.

WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS: How has the Board of Education acted "arrogantly" toward this issue? Seems like this is a fairly aggressive response, and at the right time too ... The issue is not new (it was around when I was in high school 20+ years ago) and only in the past 3-4 years has become so high-profile, thanks to Clayton County. But also, until recently there was no legal mechanism in place to aggressively enforce the residency policy. Is that neglect? Or responsibility?

AND FOR THE RECORD: When you refer to school board, do you mean the actual five-member elected panel that sits up there at the front of the room once a month? Or the day-to-day folks who actually run the schools and work for Dr. DeCotis? Because the BOE by law has no authority to initiate policy or programs, they just approve or dissapprove what the administration brings them ... You may think I'm being smart and it doesn't matter, but at election time BOE members can take the heat for a lot of things that are out of their control.

"Because the BOE by law has no authority to initiate policy or programs, they just approve or dissapprove what the administration brings them"

That is EXACTLY what they are supposed to do! Set policy and procedures and then let the schools administer them. They aren't supposed to get involved in the day-to-day aspects of individual schools, but they sure do set policy. That's the whole purpose of having the BOE. You might want to read what the BOE does here:
http://www.fcboe.org/board/boe_index.html

As far as arrogance goes and how it relates, the BOE turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the non-resident issue the past couple of years. People would call and call and be ignored. So, the people got into a froth and now want blood. If the BOE had bothered to return phone calls and acknowledge the problem, it wouldn't have got to the point of parents following other parents home and in general stalking them.

Another issue with the BOE is how arrogantly they decide the school calendar. Here's your choices: Aug 1st, 2nd or 3rd. WHich would u like? OK, that's a slight exaggeration, but I think it illustrates the lack of choices whatsoever and their zeal to sneak-in year-round schooling without "officially" stating it.

When I refer to the BOE, I'm referring to the BOE. The elected members and the staff that works for them. Decotis works for the BOE. The elected members are his bosses.

NUK

there will be minorities caught in the same situation before this is over.

There are over 1,100 students in Fayette Schools on an affidavit. At 7k each..... that's over 7.5 million bucks. At 40k per teacher that's 192 teachers salary for a year (divided by 28 schools that's nearly 7 teachers per school). Adds up fast, huh? Those same two 'liars' that were caught teaching their kids to break the law might like your car for their child .... but just can't afford it ... got any solutions? Somewhere those students are being funded by property taxes and federal funds - that's where they should be in school. Let it be known that the vast majority of the affidavits are legit and we absord those costs - which is fine. If they truly want to go to school here - let them overpay for their property in the county like everyone else here has to.