The pandemic has played a large role on students. Whether it seems like it or not, students’ mental health is at an all time low. The school having full days for 5 days a week only makes it worse. As students, we need a break. Simply having one day without any google meets lets us feel as if we are not going crazy. It gives us a break from the crazy world we are living in and this abnormal school year.

As tax-paying residents of Prince George’s County, we want our Board of Education to function in the interest of its parents, students, and community members.

The process to hire a new Chief of Police for Prince George’s County must be fully transparent. As PG County residents we must be included in the hiring process in ways that go beyond a mere community survey. The role of the police chief is far too great and needs to be accountable to the members of the community with all police matters.

The New Hampshire Progressive Coalition is deeply disappointed, though not at all surprised, by the decision by a majority of Republicans in the US Senate to acquit Donald Trump of the crimes for which he is obviously and demonstrably guilty. This acquittal, undertaken by a group of officials who were not only jurors and judges, but also witnesses to and victims of the charged crime, should drive home an understanding among people of good will that the Republican party as a whole has abandoned all semblance of decency, fairness, and fealty to the rule of law and the tenets of democracy. Given the behavior of the Republicans, and taking them at their word, we fully expect the GOP to be as resistant as possible to any and every initiative that the Biden Administration and the Democrats propose. Though Democrats hold a majority, it is a slim one that requires that all Democratic representatives and senators #LinkArms and stand together.

We would like to address some specific actions of Chair Banducci that were brought to light by Trustee Wood’s letter to the board on Jan. 18, 2021, that was made public on Jan. 20, 2021, and by an email sent by President MacLennan to the NIC board on Jan. 18, both of which were reported on by the CDA Press on Jan. 20, 2021. Trustee Ken Howard has publicly acknowledged the accuracy of these events as reported by Trustee Wood and President MacLennan. These actions were confirmed in college emails obtained through a public records request. Of particular concern is Chair Banducci’s treatment of women. He has twice threatened to physically assault Trustee Wood. In another incident, he shouted at and assumed a threatening posture over Trustee Judy Meyer. He verbally and physically assaulted a female employee, resulting in an investigation. As a result of this investigation, Mr. Banducci was censured by the board and signed a settlement with the employee agreeing to have no contact with her. Another employee filed a Title IV complaint against Mr. Banducci charging him with sexual harassment. She dropped the complaint being too fearful to move forward with it. In addition to being morally reprehensible, these actions create a huge liability for the college. Of further concern is Chair Banducci’s questioning of an NIC employee about a financial contribution made to the campaign of Dr. Joe Dunlap, who was running for the NIC Board. This is a clear attempt to intimidate an employee, and is a violation of the employee’s civil rights as well as a violation of NIC’s Political Activities Policy 3.02.11, which protects the rights of its employees to participate in civic life as private citizens. Chair Banducci has overstepped his role with students as well. In 2014, Trustee Banducci’s behavior at public board meetings deeply disturbed ASNIC President Benaiah Cheevers. During his report, President Cheevers called for greater civility and specifically addressed Trustee Banducci’s treatment of Faculty Assembly Chair Michelle Lippert and Vice President for Community Relations and Marketing Mark Browning. Trustee Banducci berated Benaiah and called him an “indoctrinated pawn.” Recently, Trustee Banducci attempted to constrain the free speech rights of students. Chair Banducci appears to believe that his role is to force a particular ideology onto the college. In an email to a student, he wrote that he was “battling the NIC deep state” and taking on the “liberal progressives.” Again, this type of statement creates a huge legal liability for the college. A dismissed employee could now sue NIC, stating that they had been fired because of their political belief. As reported by President MacLennan and evidenced in emails, Chair Banducci has recently attempted to usurp the power of the board. According to Idaho law, individual board members have no power, as the board can only act collectively. Mr. Banducci has sent numerous emails to President MacLennan demanding specific actions that can only be directed by the board as a whole. Recently, Chair Banducci and other board members have violated open meeting laws by conducting board business via email. For these reasons, we call on Trustee Todd Banducci to resign his position with North Idaho College. https://cdapress.com/news/2021/feb/06/women-join-call-nic-chair-resign/ https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/north-idaho-college-trustee-calls-for-chair-to-resign/293-dc875712-2ac4-4a78-81a1-33d4d48b304f https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/01/26/board-chair-asked-resign-over-alleged-abusive-behavior

This is extremely important because we do not want to send out the wrong message to members on our campus or elsewhere, nor do we want to give a platform to someone who has explicitly expressed views contrary to our call to respect the dignity and life of all people. While she may have a unique testimony to becoming an anti-abortion activist, Abby Johnson, in recent videos and Twitter posts, has expressed beliefs and values that do not embody the Church's or Catholic University's consistent life ethic, including egregiously racist remarks and arguments.

Governor Cooper just held a press conference asking schools to begin offering in-person education. However, coronavirus numbers are still revising, with dangerous, more transmittable variants spreading, and the state isn't offering any protection to keep teachers safe. Teachers need to be protected before requiring them to return to in-person instruction. The variant strains identified in North Carolina make the virus much more infectious and allow transmission with much less viral load. Statistics have also recently shown that children make up 1/5 of the cases in North Carolina and have been key in virus transmission. Everyone is talking about the kid's safety while ignoring that school buildings are full of adults too- many of them high-risk. This response by Governor Cooper is not based on science and what is best for our teachers and students- it is based on pressure to return to in-person school regardless of the consequences. If teachers are being required to return to in-person instruction, they should at least have the option for protection of the available vaccine. Vaccinate teachers now.

This is so important because we need to honor her hard work. First, she was passionate about freedom and rights for all Black people. Next, she didn’t back down no matter how hard it got. Finally, she was strong and caring even when she went to freedom herself, she risked her life to get other enslaved people back to freedom too. We also think it would be great to put a statue of Harriet Tubman in Lake Eola Park, but we know that might be expensive so only if you can. I think that our City of Orlando should make Harriet Tubman day because we are a City where all that work that we believe in needs to be celebrated.

Life skills education courses were cut in my school district; however, the need for life skills education increases during the pandemic. Life skills classes have been decreasing due to factors such as a job shortage in life skills teachers, as well as the courses being cut by schools due to budget issues. The life skills classes are supposed to teach you skills like cooking, cleaning, finance, and first aid that can be helpful for kids to have during a pandemic. With kids staying at home for remote learning, they should be able to feed and clean for themselves. Some families may have to budget their money due to the pandemic causing many people to go out of a job. So, knowing how to handle finances can be beneficial for kid’s futures, but especially right now. Lastly, if a kid were to injure themselves at home and no adult was present, it would be helpful if the kid was able to take care of the situation.

Ms. Cline promotes discriminatory and unethical rhetoric to the public and fights to promote her rhetoric within District 11’s School Board of Education. She has made posts on her official Facebook page that call for her members in District 11 to support xenophobia, racism, homophobia, and cultural regression. She violates USBE’s Educational Equity Program both Title IV and Title IX as well as Resolution No. 2021-01. Additionally, she violates Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Why Cline needs to be recalled from office: ✔️ She believes that Critical Race Theory is harmful and should not be taught in schools. (Violation of Resolution No. 2021-01 and Title IV.) ✔️She promotes unconscious bias as wrong and believes that it should not be taught in schools. (Violation of Resolution No. 2021-01 and Title IV.) ✔️ She advocates for traditional literature be taught in schools, specifically targeting LGBTQIA+ literature as harmful. (Violation of Title IX.) ✔️ She connects government, public education, and religion as one through a post stating that school children—and people—should follow “The Golden Rule.” Additionally, she refers families to a website whose mission is “to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide.” (Violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.) ✔️ She accuses teachers who participated in Utah’s Pride Center’s conference of indoctrinating young children to LGBTQIA+ causes (Violation of Title IX.) ✔️She promotes discrimination of transgender students by providing resources that explain why parents should be concerned. (Violation of Title IX.) Please sign this petition to recall Board Member Cline from her position, so Utah teachers can continue promoting acceptance, love, and support of all children from all backgrounds, genders, races, and religions. Recall her so parents will know that their child is safe and accepted in all public Utah schools. Recall her so all Utah children can attend schools that foster their educational journey of becoming highly educated, well-rounded adults who felt acceptance, love, and inclusion throughout their educational experience. Please contact the Utah State Legislature: https://le.utah.gov/Documents/find.htm Contact Cline’s district’s representatives: Rep. Miles of District 11: kmiles@le.utah.gov Rep. McCay of District 11: dmccay@le.utah.gov We need to demand a resignation. The Utah State School Board “has no legal authority regarding the removal or maintenance of any state board member’s seat. The only methods of removal are impeachment pursuant to Utah Code 77-5-1, resignation of the seat before the fulfillment of a four year term, or through the regular election process when a board member’s term has ended.” View the evidence of her sharing her rhetoric: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSxyZnodcQfjB84PPj6_d5tt0Fi7pyX2LOVuFPyjG2QNTupvuk0RpnVXkXYuphwS6Jv6KUI9mGy_10b/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000 Check out more of her rhetoric on her Facebook website: https://www.facebook.com/NatalieJCline/

I am a career high school teacher, my life's work has been the education, support, and nurturing of our oldest children during one of the most challenging transitional periods of life. In addition to all the stresses of adolescence, our young people must routinely prepare to have their learning spaces invaded by armed domestic terrorists that can slaughter them in cold blood. Because of shamefully lax gun regulations in the US, school shootings happen with damnable regularity subjecting families to the murder of their precious children and the surviving students to the trauma of witnessing their friends gunned down. It is bad enough that the members of US Congress have allowed this social crisis to get to the point that it has but now, in your ranks is a representative that publicly harassed a survivor of the Parkland School shooting just weeks after he witnessed the murder of his friends. As if that was not bad enough, that representative, Marjorie Taylor Greene sits on the House Education Committee. This is an affront to all teachers, parents, and our precious children. Representative Marjorie Taylor Green MUST be removed from the House Education Committee immediately

It is an embarrassment to the city of Gainesville, education professionals, UF alumni, and higher education that the nation’s #6 public university is fighting against basic human rights. UF's treatment of their employees is garnering national attention. The university has chosen profit over people, consistently refusing to listen to the protests of their employees. In addition to creating an unsafe work environment, the University of Florida is violating workers' rights by refusing a majority of ADA accommodations. Furthermore, these policies are disproportionately affecting BIPOC and vulnerable community members.