After having read this twice, I think I see your message here:
1. The parents seem to be the biggest problem in insuring their children are not so hedonistic.
2. You finally laid the the real essance of your colum when you alluded to the birthers situation.
You column became nothing more than a polticial rant aimed at Gov. Snyder.
Sad!

Bravo once againAmy as you get to the crux of the issue.

Ahhh… when logic fails, we toss out the race card.

This chore of a read starts out telling us that only the experts are qualified to pass judgment on schools… the rest of us are “casual kibitzers and zealots” who are “unhelpful at best and catastrophic at worst.”

We let our spoiled children decide where to go to school. These 11 year old “middle years” youngsters apparently network on spoiledbrats.com, where up-to-date posts discuss schools, and they learn “his/her friends’ impressions of how they feel their wants and needs are accommodated. ” so they can make an informed enrollment demand to us wimpy parents.

Somewhere along the way we progress from being brat enablers and jackass zealots to liars and racists as well.

When we are kibitzing (I’ll admit I had to lookup that it was someone who offers “unwelcome or meddlesome advice”)… we are not honestly kibitzing about trying to improve schools. No… we are being modern day racists. It’s true… Amy said so… she has, after all, the “background (which) allows me to hear and understand what people are really saying.” That background evidently came from 23 years of listening to the racist parents in the Bloomfield district; no other training for such a tremendous skill was mentioned.

But she ends by respectfully asking Governor Snyder to resist the pressure from the KKK.

Whew. Thank goodness it was respectfully asked.

Mike you remind me a fair bit of Jenny, who ran for the board. At one moment she attempted to be reasonable and then the next time she was blasting people.

The blog was not incendiary, whether you agree or disagree, so your tone is fairly rude--you can have a reasonable discussion without what you put in your post. You've identified yourself as an ardent supporter of the Republican Party and the governor which is certainly your perogative but the rest isn't really something you should be proud of.

Would you have the same feelings if a Democratic governor and legislature were looking to make such substantial changes when everyone's attentions are directed elsewhere? I suspect not. This time someone else's ox is being gored so it's seems to be ok with you.

RGibson: And what was her point besides naming awful children as a problem and how they can "wear out " a teacher and then she tries to blame Gov. Snyder for the school mess and as Mr. Reno points out trys to lay a little racism on him. Nothing more than politics in this article.

Education reform as presented is not about better education, it's about sending public money to private companies. Most of the legislation is produced by ALEC.
If you don't know ALEC, you should...
http://billmoyers.com/episode/encore-united-states-of-alec/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council

Mike Reno, Is that the best you can come up with, attitude?
I'll bet you still don't know ALEC, or you might actually begin to think.
I don't really care what you think, or don't, there are others who can think and don't like the idea of anyone skimming tax money and accomplishing far less than the state could have in the traditional way.
It's not evil, it's just a bad deal for citizens, and it's being promoted by people who know it's a bad deal and would stick it to us anyway. Just business.
And it's just business when we find it out and decline to let it happen.

But enjoy your paranoia, I surely am.

Advocates for this legislation (I am not one of them- at least not the legislation in its current form) are for the freer movement of students to different districts, which would lead to the breaking down of the traditional district barriers that are often common lines between people of different backgrounds. The proposed laws are severely flawed, poorly concocted and over-reaching, but with all due respect to the author of the letter, they are not "polite racism."

Mike is right, there are better arguments against this legislation. The fact that these new laws would allow the state to take property in a district like Bloomfield Hills, against the will of the taxpayers, and install a charter school that can selectively enroll only the smartest kids and then be rewarded for good academic performance, is one argument. Reward smart kids, isolate and punish not so smart kids. Any pace, unless you can't keep up.

It may be a rant, but she's dead right about the parents.
Most parents have no involvement in their childs education beyond bitching about it.
They expect high achievement, but do nothing to show that they value education.
Parents are about half responsible for the sad state of education today.
The other half goes to the citizens who forgot what an education is worth beyond mere job training. It's where we build a society, and informed and involved citizens.
You starve the schools of funding, and then whine about lack of performance.
Get real. Pay some taxes, then demand improvement. If you don't get it, fire the ones who were supposed to provide it, starting with the Gov and working down to your local school board.

Mike and others make this sound so noble and easy. We just want to send our kids where we think we can get the best bang for our buck. Freedom from the tyranny of the MEA. Well folks, it isn’t that easy. Look don’t jump on me and start calling me names. I am not trying to scare anyone. I am simply sharing with you the facts of what I know about a situation in a district not too far from us that is going through some dramatic changes. I don’t like the idea of barriers or the idea that we aren’t a community that is open to others less fortunate then us. However, on the other side of this equation is a reality that many of us in this community and this administration can’t even begin to fathom; how this new reality would utterly alter our district. This is a fact. My wife’s elementary building is going through this exact situation. Within her buildings attendance area, is a very large apartment complex that has dramatically lowered their monthly rates to keep occupancy up. The result is a huge influx of families fleeing the disaster in Detroit and the DPS. Those families deserve credit for wanting to get their kids out of the DPS and into a better district. In a few short years, this situation has dramatically altered the demographics of her building; it is now a Title 1 school with free lunches, and breakfasts. The staff has been caught completely off guard when it comes to the needs of these kids.

This situation has required them to fundamentally change how they work, the services they provide, how the students and the family are worked with. It has changed everything. Because resources are limited, many children who were receiving services no longer get them. The kids coming outta DPS are so far behind. This all sounds incredibly terrible, and I don’t mean it to, these kids and these families deserve as good as education as our kids do. But that is not the reality of the situation and if we just tear down the walls, we will get a huge influx of kids from families who understand that a good education can mean a world of difference and our staff and kids will be unprepared to deal with the challenges that they have. Our kids will suffer. I am not trying to say, they should stay on the their own side of 8 mile road. I am not saying they don’t deserve a great education, they do. I am simply trying to have a frank conversation about what could happen to our kids based on my first hand experience with my wife’s district. These are the challenges we are facing, and the reality of what will occur in our district if Lansing follows the Mike Reno education model.

Yes, I did write a lot in my essay! My apologies to the bored. There is simply so much to consider regarding these proposals and their authors.

The topic of race was injected, not into the argument, but as a corollary example of how some initiatives can be disguised. No one was called a racist, so if the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it.

I considered using athletics instead. Kids on the public school teams aren’t more deserving than their opponents. But the outrageous, beyond shameless recruiting of young (sometimes very young!) teenage athletes on behalf of the private or parochial schools gives those institutions extraordinary advantages. It seems unfair because it is unfair. These child athletes are often cherry-picked because they have exhibited talent or strength superior to their peers. Victories translate into dollars. Now, imagine that scenario when test scores become the barometer.

Thanks for listening, again.

P.s. I’m not generally a “bumper sticker” person, but years ago my car sported one reading “No Vouchers”. My then-young child asked, “Mommy, what are vultures?”

Now THAT’s a gifted student.

I am sorry if this offends people, but this is the cold hard facts. What do we want for our kids and what do we want for our community. Is it fair that those kids are born into a situation not of their making, absolutely not. Is it fair that we are blessed with so many riches and they are not, that for you to decide. But is that the reality of the situation? Yes, as sad as that is. Every one of those kids in Detroit deserves a day like our kids at Way or Conant, Lone Pine or Fox Hills. Every one of those kids should be able to wake up and want to go to school, have a full tummy and a PB and J and apple in a lunch bag. But they don't. Instead, they have to worry about walking to school and getting pulled into an abandoned home and sodomized or raped. That’s there life experience. Is our community and our staff ready to face the challenges that these little kids, in many instance, have had life experiences in just a few short years that none of us could even begin to comprehend.

Despite the rants of folks like B1876 and "art," there are people on this thread, much more conservative than me who are looking at this with wide open eyes. It seems pretty straightforward that the decades of efforts within the community could suddenly be nullified by this effort which seems to be an effort to privatize our schools and penalize the teachers union for backing Democrats without regard for our communities and our kids' education.

And – for the record – as a believer in the concept of agape love, I can look anyone in the eye and say I’ve truly loved each and every one of the thousands of students I have taught. Loving the lovable is easy; try it with teenagers! It’s not always easy, but, along with my colleagues, we manage to do it every day. So, Do. Not. Go. There.

Mr. Reno, don't you live in Rochester? Do you have a job? It seems to me that you spend a very healthy amount of time on these message boards fighting against school boards, teachers and administrators. What do you gain from it?

Sorry Mike, but I got it from your own website.
http://www.rcs-reno.com/background.htm.

Gopala Garnepudi (I) 707
John P. Oldani 1,345
Michael J. Reno 2,267
Anna M. Reseigh 3,090
Robert Sharp 1,756
Martin Rosalik 1,797

No where on the site does it say you were the incumbant and was defeated by Anna Reseigh.

Unless that is actually the Rochester Schools Website, but it looks to be an election website for you.

"He has alientated educators, parents, and colleagues through his divisive politicking, rude behavior and general disrespectful demeanor at school board meetings. He has certainly NOT been a hero to many people who care about Rochester Schools."

"The simple fact is that when WE needed his independent stance the most...HE QUIT!"

Mike, it really is time for you to go back to Rochester and beyond.

Is he a lobbyist?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiicN0Kg10