It's time for sustainable solutions to fund our public education system, not last resorts, like bankruptcy. There are many sensible and even promising solutions that have not been tried. We support the following reforms to ensure our children’s future. At the state level: Reinstate the 5% income tax that ended Jan. 2015, costing the state billions, or implement a fair tax structure Add a state sales tax on services to yield additional revenue Close corporate loopholes and end corporate subsidies Contribute toward Chicago teacher pensions At the city level: Immediately shut down TIF districts that no longer meet their original purpose of developing blighted areas Return at least $400 million of TIF surplus to taxing bodies this year Enact a corporate income tax Raise property taxes by a modest amount as a last resort At the CPS level: Stop spending on nonessential items and explore cutting contracts that we’ve shared (http://bit.ly/cpsbudget) Reduce central office departments such as Innovation/Incubation, Accountability, and Family and Community Engagement Stop charter expansion and selective enrollment high school expansion We look to your example of leadership and stewardship during this challenging time. Our children and our schools depend on you. Please act now to raise revenue.

While school lunch should be affordable, it shouldn't be something that children refuse to purchase and go hungry just because of how terrible school food is.

My children attend Rochester Community Schools, which has already been forced to cut 80 teachers due to budget constraints and burdens from Lansing. Bill 103 only adds additional and unnecessary burdens to school districts throughout the State of Michigan, which will negatively impact our children. Our children's education should be our top priority, and this Bill should be stopped.

Our school district has an opportunity to make the fresh start that we need and our students deserve. The news broke recently that Superintendent Mike Miles is resigning his post. As the Trustees begin the search for a replacement, we need them to hear the voices of all stakeholders. We need a superintendent who is committed to working with all stakeholders—parents, teachers and school employees, and members of our community. We need collaboration—not confrontation--to ensure that Dallas has safe, welcoming neighborhood public schools where students are inspired and educators are well-supported. The process for identifying and hiring a new superintendent must include the voices of those stakeholders. I urge you to take a moment to let your voice be heard. Please contact the Trustees and urge them to consider the following three points in the search for a new superintendent to lead our school district forward: 1) The process must be inclusive and transparent. Schools work best when all stakeholders are involved. The Dallas ISD Board should take the time and create space to get input from parents, educators and members of our community. 2) An independent search firm should be engaged. Efforts to identify a new superintendent should be broad and deliberate. 3) A broad-based Stakeholder Advisory Committee should participate in the search and interview finalists with the Trustees. The new superintendent should be someone who can build relationships with the full Dallas community. One good way to lay that foundation is to include an array of stakeholders and constituents in the selection process. At a minimum, the committee should have a place for educators, parents, business leaders, faith leaders and representatives of civic organizations. One model for how this works is already familiar to Dallas ISD; whenever a new principal is hired, a campus-wide committee is involved in the selection and interviewing of candidates. A fresh start for Dallas ISD means giving community stakeholders a seat at the table where our new superintendent is selected.

This petition is started to save our school by gathering signatures of supporters as we prepare for a potential Federal review of the Jacob's Report, the basis used by the State legislature in the bill appropriating gambling revenue to support school construction in Baltimore City. The fiscal note used no basis other than summarily closing 26 Baltimore City Schools.

We should celebrate Cami’s departure cautiously (and briefly). The fact is that the movement of students, parents, teachers and concerned residents has never been about the narrow goal of Cami’s resignation. The movement in Newark to reclaim our public schools has been about local democratic control, increasing the resources and funding needed to strengthen Newark’s public schools, developing community schools and ensuring a strong future for our children. Unless her permanent replacement is selected by the Newark community, and until Newark’s schools are properly funded, the movement to reclaim our public schools will continue. As we ready ourselves for the next phase of the fight to restore local control and invest in community schools, let’s find inspiration in the amazing work that has taken place so far. For the last three years, NJ Communities United and the Newark Students Union have fought together in solidarity, organizing more than a half-dozen massive student walk-outs, countless rallies and a week-long sit-in at Cami Anderson’s office. Following recent student walk-outs, both East Side and Weequahic are no longer on the list of turn-around schools. This demonstrates that the constant escalation and mobilization have forced the superintendent’s arm. The voices of the Newark Students Union, bolstered by technical and strategic organizing support from NJ Communities United, elevated the fight to protect Newark’s schools to national and international levels. The Newark Students Union and NJ Communities United will continue this fight – and we hope you will continue to stand with us!

Week after week, headlines about charter schools describe stolen money and bankruptcies that leave families scrambling to find new schools in the middle of the year. News reports about corruption and self-dealing in charter schools make it clear that there is little accountability for the people ripping off taxpayers. In the last two years, government watchdog groups have found hundreds of millions of dollars missing from the charter school sector due to fraud, self-dealing and mismanagement. Meanwhile, the Walton Family Foundation is spending hundreds of millions to promote the rapid expansion of charter schools with weak public oversight. That rapid expansion has made charter schools, originally a concept designed to benefit children, a business model that often serves students poorly while delivering making millions of dollars of taxpayer funds to charter school companies, family members, and related companies. Join us to tell the Walton Family Foundation that it’s time to start advocating for a charter schools accountability agenda that includes parental input into how the schools are run, and that protects taxpayers and students from companies that are just looking to cash in on public schools. The agenda calls for increased accountability (through open board meetings, publicly available budgets and contracts, and rigorous audits); protecting neighborhood schools (through impact analyses and financial assessments of the effects of charter expansion on local schools); and protecting taxpayer funds (by ensuring the public retains control of public property, banning nepotism, prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars on marketing and advertising, and blocking new charter schools where officials neglect to prevent fraud and mismanagement). This program for reform is the next step in protecting public education and preventing an increase in charter school corruption. Read The Charter School Accountability Agenda: http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/wp-content/uploads/0215-Charter-School-Flyer.final_.pdf Read How the Walton Family Foundation’s Ideological Pursuit is Damaging Charter Schooling: http://cashinginonkids.com/?page_id=1520

Because there is a constant need for educational funding here in Oregon. This would be a way to help the cause.

A new study says the University of New Mexico pays female professors, on average, 13% less than men. Asked why, Provost Chaouki Abdallah says, "The most important reason for male professors [having higher average salaries] is that there are colleges and departments with higher salaries. For example, there are more male engineering professors. The lowest paid professors are where females are a majority such as education or the arts. The other reason is that females may delay careers or promotions because of family. Males will also negotiate for more money and females generally don’t." They can't be serious. UNM can - and should - do better. Tell them to honor the Fair Pay Act and pay female professors on par with men.

Contrary to the clear intent of Board of Education policy, the Superintendent has been discharging non-tenured teachers without following the Board's dismissal procedures. Rather, he has chosen not to renew their contracts (non-renewal). Dismissal of poorly-performing teachers is a necessity at times, but hiring and orienting new teachers is expensive and disruptive. To learn well, children need stability and predictability in their schools. Dismissing teachers without clear reason creates a climate of uncertainty for children, parents and teachers, and it disrupts the conditions needed for positive, productive school communities.

The Philadelphia School District needs to close its budget gap. The City of Philadelphia's solution is to raise real estate taxes again on working men and women. Property owners of new homes should pay their fair share for our public schools.

We need all of your signatures, we are trying to have 1500+ to take and present to the School Board. All in honor of a Good man and Great Coach. Where his legacy and name will always be remembered at each and every Starkville High Football game and Track Meet. Where generations will know and understand who Coach Hudson was and meant to the City Of Starkville, Thank You...! Believe me, every name matters.