If I understand Batters question, I suppose the answer is "it depends".
My parents resolutely did not abuse the system, and I never forgave them for it.
My first ethical principle to apply is does it affect the sum total of human happiness ?
Can't see that it does, since it's basically swapping one randomly chosen child for another.
Next, I ask whether child A "deserves" it more than B. That may or may not be true, but there's no way of telling who child B is.
Next I ask, am I challenging legitimate authority ?
I don't recgnise corrupt and inefficient local education outfits as legitimate. I have made no personal commitment to support their activities, nor have I incurred any personal obligation to them, or allowed them to believe that such an obligation exists. Indeed, my minor interactions with them have typically been adversarial.
The rules are for their bureaucratic convenience, and have no significant input for the good of children.
The process of educational decisions is less democratic than the averge African ministry of state security.
In short, one is not corrputing an honourable and efficient process, but dealing with an broken machine.
Part of my work is IT.
Sometimes I have to tell bits of software things that aren't true in order to get them to work.
I might say "this is not a piece of text, it's a number.
I don't see this as immoral, any more than the gang of bullies we lable as local authorities.
A good ethical test is symmetry.
Would your local council bend the rules in order to get something from you ?
As we see in matters of taxation, parking fines etc we see that not only do they do this, but hire highly skilled contractors to do it for them.