Bushmaster Charter School

Another awesome and reformy portrait in courage:

Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill this afternoon that would have allowed gun owners with extra training to carry their concealed weapons in schools, day care centers, churches and stadiums.

In his veto letter sent to the Legislature shortly before 4 p.m., Snyder said the bill had a fatal loophole that didn’t allow for those institutions to opt out of the new legislation and prohibit weapons from their buildings. 

“I believe that it is important that these public institutions have clear legal authority to ban weapons from their premises,” he said. “Each is entrusted with the care of a vulnerable population and should have the authority to determine whether its mission would be enhanced by the addition of concealed weapons.” [emphasis mine]

Now, understand that old Rick is on the reformy edge when it comes to educational "choice": he's basically for dissolving the entire Michigan public school system and letting a slew of privatizers into the state to fight it out for voucher money. It's just like buying bananas: shop around for the best deal! If you get a bad one, don't go back to that bodega, and they'll go out of business. Let the market decide!

And if bunches of kids wind up in a badly run, unaccountable school, well... hey, at least their teachers won't be in a union! So there's that...

But here's what I'm really excited about: if Snyder can get this "loophole" closed, he'll be creating reforminess of a whole new caliber. Think about it: Michigan parents will have the "choice" to send their kids to schools that don't just allow concealed weapons; they can actively encourage them! Parents who believe that a school's "mission would be enhanced" by copious numbers of firearms will finally be able to use taxpayer dollars to give their children the double-barreled education they've always wanted!

Imagine a charter school where every teacher is required to pack heat! Forget discipline plans and classroom meetings! No more trips to the principal's office (except maybe to get more ammo) - we'll solve our differences right here, little fella. That's right, you'd better damn well raise your hand instead of calling out next time!

And think what the parent-teacher conferences will be like...

Of course, a fully-armed charter can't just rely on its faculty: let's get the kids involved, too. After all, the biggest problem facing our children today is that they lack "grit." Well, I say every parent has the right to send their child to a school that demands its students man up and load up!

Can't get "grittier" than that, am I right?

Over the last year, I think the people of Michigan have seen exactly the sort of man they elected in Rick Snyder. Sure, the cynical among you might think that Rick backed off of his scheme to let potential vigilantes roam our schools because it would look insane not to veto this bill in the wake of the Newtown massacre.

But that's just more liberal spin. Clearly, Rick Snyder is a man of vision. He sees a Michigan - indeed, an America - where public school systems are dissolved and replaced by privately-run schools that will have the option to allow guns in the classroom.

I predict Michigan will appropriately reward Snyder for his dream in the next election. I think he's going to get everything that he deserves.

Show and Tell!

ADDING: Well, what a coincidence: on the same day that Snyder vetoed SB59, Michelle Rhee came out against it. After StudentsFirst had no comment on Monday.

Golly, what are the odds?

MORE: Looks like the good people of Michigan are letting their feelings about Snyder known right now:

In the span of six weeks, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's approval rating has dropped substantially and his odds of re-election - if held today - would be low, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
The survey, conducted Thursday through Sunday - days after Snyder's signing of controversial right-to-work legislation - found that Snyder would lose to any of four Democratic candidates listed in hypothetical match-ups, including the man he beat in 2010: Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.
"Just last month we were talking about how much Rick Snyder's popularity had improved over the last year," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm in North Carolina. "In the last week he's thrown that all away and now ranks as one of the most unpopular governors in the country."
Snyder is up for re-election in 2014, and it remains to be seen if anger over the right-to-work law will subside in two years.
A majority of voters - 51 percent - say they oppose the right-to-work law, which would prohibit requiring workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Forty-one percent support it, and 8 percent are unsure.
In a PPP poll released in early November, Snyder had a 47 percent "job performance" approval rating among registered voters and a 37 percent disapproval mark. Sixteen percent were unsure.
Now 38 percent of voters approve, 56 percent disapprove - a 19-point swing - and 6 percent are unsure.
Forty-four percent support recalling Snyder, 48 percent oppose it and 8 percent are unsure.