OpEducation
OpEducation was a roundtable opinion blog featuring the views of a wide variety of education thought leaders on timely questions related to K-12 learning practices and concepts. The blog invited readers to reflect on the opinions they find here and to respond with their own, building a conversation on the most-important education questions of the day. This blog is no longer being updated.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Addressing Virtually Segregated Schools
Kent McGuire: Segregation matters, especially if it impacts the distribution of resources, shapes policy decisions ... and affects the distribution of talented teachers
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Brown: 60 Years Hence
Patricia Gándara: Ironically, as the nation becomes more diverse, we become more isolated from one another.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Discipline vs. Punishment
Blanchfield: The increase in giving law enforcement and other agencies a larger role in punishment for school offenses eventually weakens school discipline.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Hurting Those Who Need the Most Help
Edelman & Domenech: In 2014, out-of-school suspensions are an outdated practice, and too often suspended students are the students most in need of extra support.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Suspensions Should Be Last Resort
Johnson: Transparency, consistency and, perhaps most important, accountability must become commonplace; they must be the practice for all and not the punishment for a few.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Echoes of Brown in School Discipline
Smith-Evans: It is critical that the individuals disciplining students in a discriminatory manner be held accountable for their actions
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
The Role of the School Resource Officer
Kevin Quinn writes that having a properly trained school resource officer on campus is one step to making schools safer.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
A Counselor's View: The Need for Teamwork
Counselor Sandy Austin: Our schools are safer when educators and other staff members are accountable and prepared with a plan, follow the chain of command, and execute as team.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Creating the Schools We Want for Our Children
Ron Avi Astor: We are no longer willing to tolerate even one senseless, horrific event in a school. Nor should we.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Post-Sandy Hook Strategies
Ronald Stephens of National School Safety Center: When it comes to school safety, we need to do everything we can--knowing we can't do everything. School systems are not insurers of safety; they are purveyors of education and opportunity.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
A Newtown Parent: We All Must Do Our Part
Sandy Hook parent Michele Gay writes that schools must prepare and practice for the worst so that it never happens.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Our Nation's Schools Remain Contaminated With Inequity
Unfortunately, our nation's schools have become so complacent with referring to black and brown youths as "at risk" that we forget this framing often perpetuates the deficit thinking that they are broken and need to be fixed.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Transforming Our Schools Requires Building Our Democracy
The solutions must be inclusive, equitable, based on solid research, yet driven by the urgency of the problem.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Racial Equity 50 Years After King's Speech
Equity is still boldly proclaimed to be our nation's prime education policy in both federal and state laws and court decisions. What is required in the years ahead is serious enforcement of these legal and moral mandates.