Keeping the Riffraff Out

Today in The Wall Street Journal, Micheal Flaherty writes about the latest crime wave sweeping the land: parents lying about their place of residence in order to send their children to better schools.

These nefarious criminals are on the loose in Oklahoma, too. For example, Dr. Donald Tyler, pastor of Greater Grace in north Tulsa, says "some kids are able, by using false addresses, to get into the better public schools" in the Tulsa area. About a mile from my house (photo at right), officials of the "public" school are making sure they take all comers doing their best to block the schoolhouse door. After all, this is Edmond. We can't let just anyone in, you understand.

But I would suggest the utility-bill strategy is too primitive. If they're not doing so already, Edmond officials should step it up. Some school districts, Flaherty writes,
use services like VerifyResidence.com, which  provides "the latest in covert video technology and digital photographic  equipment to photograph, videotape, and document" children going from  their house to school. School districts can enroll in the company's  rewards program, which awards anonymous tipsters $250 checks for reporting out-of-district students.

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