Facts get in way of martyrdom

COLUMBUS

Civil rights advocates and opponents of the way Ohio funds its public schools rallied around Kelley Williams-Bolar earlier this year when the single mom from Akron was jailed for purposely enrolling her two daughters in the wrong school district.

The case sparked a national debate about race and educational disparities between lower-income urban school districts and their often-wealthier suburban counterparts.

Williams-Bolar appeared on national TV to talk about her arrest and met with the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Gov. John Kasich used the case to spotlight the need to increase vouchers for students to attend charter or private schools.

“Our laws exist for a reason, and they must be enforced, but the idea that a woman would become a convicted felon for wanting a better future for her children is something that has rightly raised a lot of concern with people, including me,” Kasich told reporters earlier this year.

He asked the state parole board to review the convictions and make a recommendation to his office on clemency.

DEFENDANT SPEAKS UP

Then, one day last week, Williams-Bolar rained on everyone’s parade, saying her motivation for enrolling her children in the Copley-Fairlawn City School District — the borders of which are just a couple of miles from her home — had nothing to do with the quality of schooling being offered.

She told the state parole board she was looking out only for the safety of her two daughters, who could stay at her father’s home after school.

Williams-Bolar also said she didn’t think her arrest and subsequent conviction had anything to do with the color of her skin.

All of which leaves many of the civil rights and school choice advocates and Kasich in very awkward positions.

Civil rights leaders and school choice groups will have a hard time using the Akron mom as the poster child for racial inequality in Ohio schools. She has stated publicly and emphatically that the quality of Akron public schools was not a factor in her decision to sneak her kids into Copley-Fairlawn.

And the governor will be stuck with the final decision on whether to pardon Williams-Bolar from her two criminal convictions, thus opening the door to future careers in state-licensed positions that block felons from participating.

He could grant clemency, saying everyone deserves a second chance to make good. But if he does, he’s excusing convictions against a woman who, according to prosecutors, has continued to provide false information on government applications and paperwork — including recently renewing her driver’s license with her father’s home address instead of her own.

He could deny clemency, saying he wasn’t aware of the particulars of the case and chastising the media for creating such a brouhaha.

But then he’ll have to backpedal on months of public statements, likely drawing the ire of the same civil rights and school choice advocates who rallied for the cause earlier in the year.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at Ohio CapitalBlog.