Rev. Al Sharpton Supports Kelley Williams-Bolar In Ohio School Choice Case

AKRON, Ohio — A woman convicted of a felony for using her father's address to enroll her children in a neighboring school district should be "saluted, not arrested," civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton said at a rally for her on Thursday.

Sharpton spoke to a cheering crowd of about 300 people who gathered to support Kelley Williams-Bolar at a church in Akron, a struggling industrial city about an hour's drive south of Cleveland. The rally was organized by Sharpton's New York City-based nonprofit National Action Network.

"I think this woman should be saluted, not arrested," Sharpton said to rousing cheers at the church, which was packed with people. "This is an issue that everybody ought to get mad about. White, black, whatever."

Williams-Bolar, who is black, was accused of improperly using her father's address to register her two daughters from 2006 to 2008 in the neighboring Copley-Fairlawn school district instead of in the larger, underperforming Akron city district. The 40-year-old single mother and teacher's aide said her primary concern was safety.

She served nine days in jail for records tampering but plans to appeal her conviction. The felony record could rule out her goal of becoming a teacher. Amid continued public outcry over her arrest, Republican Gov. John Kasich has asked the state parole board to determine whether the felony conviction was an appropriate punishment.

Sharpton compared Williams-Bolar to the civil rights protesters in the 1960s, saying the civil rights movement began with the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, which ended legal segregation in public schools. Trying to ensure a good education for children shouldn't be criminalized, he said.

"This is an issue about equal education and equal protection," he said.

The crowd was overwhelmingly sympathetic to Williams-Bolar, with some people holding up signs that said "Exonerate Kelley Williams-Bolar." But there also was tension in the room. The Rev. Curtis Walker, president of the city of Akron's school board, took the podium to defend its schools.

"We have a full-time police officer in our school building," Walker said. "We have metal detectors to make sure that our students are safe and well."

But Linda Lanier, a mother who has chosen to home-school her son rather than send him to a city school, drew cheers from the crowd when she stood up to speak.

"I live in Akron, and I have to be concerned," Lanier said. "Because at the end of the day, I have to do what's best for my child."

Sharpton said he plans to return to Akron to fight for Williams-Bolar.

"I think that tonight showed we can pull a crowd," Sharpton said. "Now we've got to transform that crowd into a movement."

___

Information from: Akron Beacon Journal, http://www.ohio.com

Comments

[IMHOinCO]

03:27 AM on 02/23/2011

What have we come to in this country?
I remember as a teenager listening to my Mom argue why should wouldn't use someone else's address for my brother. Inside my mind, I felt she was wrong. He was in the 9th grade and getting beat up almost daily. He was bullied to the point where he couldn't go to class. I remember as a senior hearing the other students yelling, "fight" --- and I prayed it wasn't my poor brother again! He never did anything to provoke this fights. He just existed. He begged to attend a different school, my Mom went to the school board and requested a transfer and it was denied. He quit and now 30 years later, he still doesn't have a HS diploma. He has struggled his entire life with un and under employment. Why is it wrong to want the best for our children? Why is it wrong to want our children to be safe? The problem is that IF every parent that cared about their child took their child out of that school district, the school would be empty. Good! Then maybe something would change! Bullying shouldn't be allowed. Poor teachers who don't teach and allow children to pass without earning the grade should be dismissed. Something has to change, but locking this poor Mom up for 9 days is disgraceful! Lying isn't right, but sometimes we as parents have to go to extremes for our children!

[NatTurner1]

03:13 PM on 02/22/2011

9 days in jail for trying to insure your children have a good education! That's 9 days longer than Charlie Sheen served for holding a knife to his wife's neck and 9 days longer than Mel Gibson served for beating the mother of his child. What have we reduced ourselves to?

[justthomas]

04:48 PM on 02/21/2011

WHAT A DISGUSTED APPALING LAW T O SEGREGATE LEGALLY AGAINST BLACK CHILDREN OF THIS COUNTRY. Law makers conveniently made a Law keep away the black children from Predominantly white .

If all children are equally deserve the rights ........then why its a big issue that whether this women lied or not? If our own children in America can not have the equal privileges, then why do we preach the equality and justice to the world? if our black children canot have the equal privileges and rights with , then what is Pledge of allegiance means to us? why do we chant Pledge of allegiance??

[angelfire1712]

01:25 PM on 02/21/2011

I applaud Rev. Al Sharpton...I applaud this mother for trying to do what is best for her child...I stand behind you 100%. As I had said before when she was first convicted...this was an opportunity for the governor to look at 'Open Enrollment' and how that could be applied in his state. It creates competition in the school system which in turn creates a better educational system as a whole. This one event should have opened up dialogue regarding education...convicting her of a felony is just plain outrageous. Thanks again Rev. Sharpton.

[superdestroyer]

07:47 PM on 02/20/2011

A school system in Mississippi was sued because it allowed white students to transfer from a high school that is 80% black to a high school that was 40% black. Those white parents were called racist and were told to get their children back to the 80% black school.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041905118.html?hpid=topnews

[Frank Bourne]

03:00 PM on 02/19/2011

Does anyone really think Sharpton (or anyone) would defend a white mother illegally moving her kids from a black school out of "concern for their safety?" Would she be a hero as well? Racism sure is tricky.

Don't count on the bath house regulars from journalism school to point that out. Aggravating racial animosity is their bread and butter.

[shuffleoff]

03:24 PM on 02/19/2011

White mothers usually don't need defense from Al Sharpton...she has historic white privilege on her side. And FYI...I am white.

[Frank Bourne]

03:29 PM on 02/19/2011

So it's noble to move your children from black schools out of concerns for their safety? Didn't Williams-Bolar just justify white flight?

[Endersdragon]

10:45 PM on 02/19/2011

I have been saying this for weeks, no one ever listens.

[MarcEdward]

02:29 PM on 02/19/2011

Mr. Sharpton, you're a tired old fraud and a throwback.
Please go away.
I do not support people breaking the law and stealing when there is no need.

[shuffleoff]

11:24 AM on 02/19/2011

I agree with Mr. Sharpton...and the mother who wanted the best for her child. Bravo to her for trying. Let's get some entertainers to contribute to this cause rather than buying more cars, homes, jewelry and other unnecessary things.

[MarcEdward]

02:30 PM on 02/19/2011

So if I "want the best for my kids" and steal your car, that's OK with you?
Can you leave the keys in the glove box and the doors unlocked?
Thanks in advance!

[shuffleoff]

03:18 PM on 02/19/2011

C'mon, not quite the same thing MarcEdward...not even close.

[Veritas 1]

11:30 PM on 02/18/2011

With all the church-going, concerned parents who attended this event why does this district underperform? Must not be any of their kids...

[elizabethcity]

06:57 PM on 02/18/2011

If this lady was white and used a false address so her kid or kids could get out of an inner city school and go to a suburban school, do you think Al would be there with her? HELL NO!

[dwill123]

08:26 PM on 02/18/2011

If she was white she would have never been charged with a felony.

[MarcEdward]

02:30 PM on 02/19/2011

If she had not committed a felony she would never have been charged with a felony.

[shuffleoff]

03:26 PM on 02/19/2011

FANNED dwill123...

[Donkan]

05:30 PM on 02/18/2011

As much as I sympathize with any parent who wants their children to have a good education, this lady had to know what she was doing was illegal. The school she sent her children to is in a different city, supported by that city's taxpayers. The people in that town have a right to expect that their taxes are not paying for children from other towns. Now, as my son pointed out to me, her father does live in Copley and his taxes do support the school, so it could be argued that he was getting value for his taxes. I can see that point, but then the law should be changed and the mother not falsify her address.

[vonbek]

10:28 PM on 02/18/2011

yea just like the bankers and CEO's who had two sets of books so they could hide their debt so they could get big bonuses. How many wall st. people are in jail for fraud? none!!! I am tired of a two tier legal system where rich people skate, and little people get thrown in jail over something as lame as this.

[am10]

11:37 AM on 02/19/2011

Two wrongs don't make a right. Let's be better than fraudulent bankers, okay.

[brooklyncitizen]

08:50 PM on 02/19/2011

This is a false argument. She is paying taxes.
Her father the kids' grandfather is paying taxes.
Single and married people without kids in the school system that live in that town are paying taxes.

THis case is an example of institutionalized racism.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

03:54 AM on 02/20/2011

This has nothing to do with "race."   But keep clinging to the concept.  How else can you make unrelated people seem to be "like" you, right?

If it is not false associations then it is no association at all.  Would would we do then?

[taylor5]

04:41 PM on 02/18/2011

If her children were talented athletes, the school would have welcomed them with open arms

[frant52]

04:14 PM on 02/18/2011

Okay, so she tried to pull a fast one so that her kids could get into a better school. She got caught and if it's all that bad, tell her she has to enroll her kids in their own neighborhood. But I really can't get the reason to prosecute her as a criminal!
If the courts are so ready to prosecute parents, why not go after parents who's children are not in any school, and are roaming around the streets all day?

[Donkan]

05:34 PM on 02/18/2011

I don't know this as a fact, but here's what I was told: Copley sent the mother a bill for the time that her children attended that town's school. She failed to pay the bill and the town filed fraud charges against her. Apparently, the sum was large enough to make it a felony.

[am10]

11:38 AM on 02/19/2011

They should probably just do what private schools around here do if you don't pay the bill and withhold transcripts until you're paid.

[aqua12]

05:07 PM on 02/19/2011

This is not true. 47 other families (of varied races) were caught doing the same thing, and they just pulled their kids out or did what they needed to do for their kids to be legally enrolled. She and her father continued to lie and be belligerant and refused to explain the school system's ample proof that the mom lived out of district. Don't take my word for it, you can listen to the residency hearings on the Summit County Ohio Prosecutors website. The other familes who committed fraud were not charged because they took responsibilitiy for what they did and rectified it, she did not.

[MarcEdward]

02:31 PM on 02/19/2011

But I really can't get the reason to prosecute her as a criminal!

Many of our "punishments" far outweigh the crime because we want to deter other criminals. 

[brooklyncitizen]

08:52 PM on 02/19/2011

LOL
yeah.
translation: "we want to keep certain people in their place"

[db08]

03:46 PM on 02/18/2011

A felony? The sentencing is outrageous. I know parent in my town who have done and hem caught, they get a smack on the hands and to to stop. In this case, the father was living in that district after all and I am assuming he was paying taxes as well. Shame on the prosecutor.

[MarcEdward]

02:33 PM on 02/19/2011

It's 9 days in jail.
It's not that outrageous (other than in the context of Bush and Cheney walking free). 
Minor point - it was the woman's father, not the kid's father, who lived in the better district. 

[whatsthat1]

03:44 PM on 02/18/2011

How absurd. We have schools and teachers falsifying special needs student records everyday but that is justified by the school districts and states because they do it to save money. She did it to save her child. I guess it depends what side you are on. http://www.ri-specialeducation.com/