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 last 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 Norwalk resident has created a petition on Change.org, calling on Norwalk officials to drop charges against McDowell and to fire prosecutor Suzanne Vieux who continues pursuing this case.
"I'm still in shock," Tanya said in an interview with the Norwalk Patch. "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 people 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.
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 (once called "The People's Mayor" by the Republican Party) is passionately defending the City's decision to prosecute McDowell. (It's worth noting that the lead prosecutor in McDowell's case is Moccia's own daughter.)
This post was originally posted on Change.org and was authored by Carol Scott, education editor at Change.org. It's been edited and updated. To view the original, click here.