Michigan school opinions

We cannot continue to have Oxfords and Uvaldes every year. Our alternatives are either to change the ease of obtaining guns or harden the security of school buildings, or both.

Our state’s future depends on Michigan’s storied institutions of higher learning recognizing this moment and striving to ensure the maximum outcome for every student and employer in Michigan.

When the state has millions of dollars in resources, it seems unfair that we can’t invest it in our youth. After all, that’s where it can have the greatest impact.

Despite the hysterics, there aren't any secrets in a classroom. Parents who want to know what is happening in classrooms can simply ask their kids or look online at class curriculum.

The ballot initiative would reduce revenue intended for public school programs like ours that prepare students for successful careers. Instead, the voucher proposal would siphon away funding to private schools through tax credits for wealthy individuals and corporations.

Parents know what works best to help their children succeed, and the Let MI Kids Learn Plan will be a valuable tool for them.

Perhaps school gun violence persists because the majority in the Michigan Legislature has avoided even discussing the most popular, moderate, and reasonable of gun safety measures.

To repair the torn fabric of our communities, politicians must drop the talking points and tactics of the partisan school voucher movement.

Clearing up parent concerns about what classrooms teach and how well schools use their growing resources should be a high priority for Michigan.

Policies like Let MI Kids Learn haven’t worked in states that have tried similar schemes.

I’ve witnessed more than a dozen seniors shedding tears in my office when they found out there was a way for them to afford an education after high school.

Spend some time reading with the young ones in your life. We believe this will help these youth build a foundation anchored by a love of reading.

To teach history is not for the purpose of making anyone uncomfortable, but history may inevitably make many uncomfortable. So, too, though, the ignoring or plowing under of history leaves its own marks.

Michigan has an enormous opportunity for its next economic renaissance. We can’t deliver on that vast potential while dead last in educational investment.

We spend a lot of time debating how much money should go into the education of our children, and very little thinking about how best to spend those funds.

A GOP bill allowing college students to teach in a classroom for a year without supervision feels like just another strategy to weaken and compromise public education by further de-professionalizing teaching.

The children and families we serve have already borne the brunt of the pandemic. If we truly care about those most in need, we must act.

When the dust settles and the laughter subsides, come May, I’ll find it hard not to be an alumnus embarrassed by the University of Michigan.

Many of us can’t imagine our four-legged friends being subjected to the brutality that is routine at Wayne State, and we shouldn’t ignore it because it’s done by people in white coats.

I invite our elected officials to come into the classroom and see what these drills are really like. Help us create plans to barricade the doors, decide what items could be used to throw at a shooter.