McMillin Mentioned in CNN Blog About School Funding

A Rochester Hills lawmaker recently made national news when he blasted a Michigan school leader's suggestion, in hyperbole, that the governor turn his school into a prison.

Rep. Tom McMillin was mentioned in CNN.com's "This Just In" blog on Friday under an entry entitled "Friday's Intriguing People." His criticism centered on an open letter to Gov. Rick Snyder written by Ithaca Public Schools Superintendent Nathan Bootz.

"We treat our prisoners better than we treat our school children," Bootz wrote in a letter printed in The Morning Sun newspaper of Mt. Pleasant. "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 provide for my students in my school district the same way we provide for a prisoner."

McMillin responded by calling the suggestion "inflammatory rhetoric," according to the CNN blog, which cited the Michigan Capitol Confidential. 

“The guy just can’t be serious,” McMillin said. “It shows they don’t want to live in reality and make a few tough decisions.”

McMillin has been a supporter of Snyder's budget plan, including his proposed school-funding cuts. He has characterized the cutbacks as part of the state's necessary "belt-tightening."