[From USA Today "Charges lessened in fake-address case"
Governor John Kasich, a resurgent conservative in a state turning Red in reaction to the elitist, statist policies of the Obama Administration, has commuted the sentence of Kelley Williams-Bolar, a teacher-to-be who faked her daughter's home address in order to enroll her in a better school.
Governor Kasich did the right thing in reducing the charges to a misdemeanor, so not Ms. Williams-Bolar may still pursue her teacher's license.
Unfortunately, Governor Kasich did not go far enough.
He should have pardoned the mother of all wrong-doing, then by executive initiative demanded the repeal of the zip-code laws which force parents to enroll their children in neighborhood schools, no matter how degenerate, dysfunctional, or dangerous.
It is an absolute shame that engaged parents must enroll their children in disengaged schools, facilities which are rapidly deteriorating in the wake of shrinking budgets and aggressive teacher's unions who care more about their political power than the future of our nation's youth.
In justifying his commutation, Kasich remarked: "No one should interpret this as a pass — it's a second chance." Ms. Willaims-Bolar did the moral thing, even if what she did was illegal. Rather, the governor should interpret this as a second chance not for the mother to obey an unjust law, but for the state legislature to undo an unjust system which forces so many parents to lie their kids into better schools.