A Letter to the Governor of Michigan

I got this in an email this morning from my beautiful Jeannie.  It has come third hand and I have not verified that the content is absolutely true, but the message is certainly right on the spot.. Enjoy
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Dear Governor Snyder, (Gov. of Michigan)

In these tough economic times, schools are hurting. And yes, everyone  
in Michigan is hurting right now financially, but why aren't we  
protecting schools? Schools are the one place on Earth that people  
look to "fix" what is wrong with society by educating our youth and  
preparing them to take on the issues that society has created.

One solution I believe we must do is take a look at our corrections  
system in Michigan. We rank nationally at the top in the number of  
people we incarcerate. We also spend the most money per prisoner  
annually than any other state in the union. Now, I like to be at the  
top of lists, but this is one ranking that I don't believe Michigan 
wants to be on top of.

Consider the life of a Michigan prisoner. They get three square meals  
a day. Access to free health care. Internet. Cable television. Access  
to a library. A weight room. Computer lab. They can earn a degree. A  
roof over their heads. Clothing. Everything we just listed we DO NOT  
provide to our school children.

This is why I'm proposing to make my school a prison. The State of  
Michigan spends annually somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 per  
prisoner, yet we are struggling to provide schools with $7,000 per  
student. I guess we need to treat our students like they are  
prisoners, with equal funding. Please give my students three meals a  
day. Please give my children access to free health care. Please  
provide my school district Internet access and computers. Please put  
books in my library. Please give my students a weight room so we can 

be big and strong. We provide all of these things to prisoners because 
they have constitutional rights. What about the rights of youth, our 
future?!

Please provide for my students in my school district the same way we 
provide for a prisoner. It's the least we can do to prepare our 
students for the future...by giving our schools the resources 
necessary to keep our students OUT of prison.
     Respectfully submitted,
     Nathan Bootz
     Superintendent
     Ithaca Public Schools
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