Julianne Hing of ColorLines is reporting that Kelley Williams-Bolar has finally caught a bit of a break. After being targeted with unusually harsh prosecution, thrown in jail for nine days and denied a pardon when she falsified her home address to get her daughters into a better public school, Ohio Gov. John Kasich reduced the Akron mother's remaining two charges — of records tampering — from two felonies to misdemeanors, the AP reported.
Williams-Bolar was also hit with theft charges: School officials said she stole more than $30,000 worth of public education for her daughters when she used her father's home address to get her daughters into better schools in a neighboring school district. While the theft charges were eventually dropped, prosecutors pursued the charges of record tampering, which Williams-Bolar said threatened her career as an educator.
Kasich agreed.
"When I first heard about this situation, it seemed to me that the penalty was excessive for the offense," Kasich said in a statement, the Associated Press reported. "In addition, the penalty could exclude her from certain economic opportunities for the rest of her life."
But Kasich's clemency only went so far. Wlliams-Bolar must still carry out the rest of her sentence, which includes probation and 80 hours of community service. She must also pay for the cost of her own prosecution, the AP reported. "No one should interpret this as a pass — it's a second chance," Kasich said in his statement.
A second chance? Since she didn't get a first chance, we beg to differ with that assessment. Prosecuting a mother for trying to give her children a decent education that should be available in her neighborhood but isn't takes a lot of nerve. Perhaps we should sue school systems for the education of which our children are deprived? Why should their kids get a $30,000 education while our kids get the hand? It is public school, right?
In other news: VIDEO: 'Awkward Black Girl' Web Series Wins Viewers.