The

took another blow in the national media yesterday courtesy of Fox News commentator Shepard Smith.

"If my kid were in Detroit, I'd try to burn the place down," Smith said during a discussion on the district's

.

Smith quickly pointed out his comment was meant figuratively, but his guests -- school board member Tyrone Whinfrey and Detroit Parent Network Executive Director Sharlonda Buckman -- say he went too far.

"We're not going to burn down Detroit," Whinfrey

after the interview. "We're going to stand together in the city."

Buckman, a fierce critic of the district herself, said Shepard's comment was shameful. "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

But Buckman may have paved the way for the discussion with a critique she offered last weekend.

In a story

and other national media, she proposed parents should file civil lawsuits against teachers and administrators and suggested they belong in jail.

"Somebody needs to pay for this,"

at a breakfast forum Saturday. "Somebody needs to go to jail, and it shouldn't be the kids."

, Detroit students in fourth and eighth grade recorded the lowest math scores in the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress standardized test.

Mayor Dave Bing said the results were "

" and Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb called for a "

" in Detroit, asking volunteers to spend 100,000 hours teaching students to read.

Hundreds have already heeded his call to action.

The Detroit Free Press, which is partnering in the initiative,

more than 700 volunteers from across the metro area signed up online within 36 hours and an additional 140 people signed up over the phone.

Update

: If you're interested in helping,

.

Update 2

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Update 3

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Update 4

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