I'm a product of the Michigan public education system. I got accepted to an excellent college. I see many Michigan kids in our robotics team that I'm sure will succeed.
What I've seen, and what that article seems to support is this:
1. Good parents can make up for a bad school system and produce good kids
2. A good school system can't make up for bad parents.
3. A bad school system and bad parents.......
You'll never be able to change the attitude of the parents who truly don't care. Frankly, no matter how hard you try you're not going to make school "fun" so the kids /want/ to go there and learn. Incentives (field trips etc) work when they're younger, but even then if you can't engage the parents you're fighting an uphill battle. Incentives (scholarships) to colleges only go so far too - it's the parents you have to motivate.