by Tanta on 5/21/2008 10:14:00 AM

Periodically I wonder how my life would have been different if, instead of becoming a heartless banker whose only concern is the bottom line, not human lives, I had devoted my career to something socially redeeming, like education of the young. Then I read the WSJ:

Some school districts, hoping to control costs and prevent overcrowding, are intensifying efforts to make sure students actually live where they are registered.

Districts from Florida to California are hiring private investigators, creating anonymous tip lines and imposing penalties when they believe people have registered at false addresses. The measures often are spurred by parents who feel they pay a premium in property taxes to get their children into good schools.

One reason for the crackdown is the rise in home foreclosures, which may prod parents into faking addresses to keep their children at their current schools, some in the field say.

"Foreclosure rates are up. Displacement is up. People are becoming homeless," says William Beitler, a private investigator specializing in address verification for school districts in the Chicago area. Mr. Beitler says he has contracts with 32 districts, up from 23 last year, and his caseload has increased to 7,000 from 3,000. He claims he will save districts a total of $12.2 million next year through removing students.

I take it those parents who are spurring the school districts to hire PIs and open up snitch tip lines aren't also grieving.