I believe we have had and can continue to have a excellent Education for our K-12 students, our Technical College system, the UW System as well as the Private Colleges. The idea that we are going not only reduce economic support for these institutions now there is a proposal to reduce requirements to teach our students. I believe does not support the principals that have governed our Great State.

I am very concerned about the attacks on public education in Wisconsin. Keep standards high in Wisconsin schools. Why would we lower them?

At a 201 board meeting, Mr Cronin acted in a very unprofessional way and attacked another board member verbally. He knew he was being recorded and acted this way in front of the BOE, parents and other public members. This type of behavior is unacceptable for our students (per student handbook) and should also be unacceptable for our BOE members. We are asking that the BOE ask Mr Cronin to resign from his position. We cannot trust someone who acts like this to be able to make rational and wise decisions for our children. You can watch what happened at the board meeting here - (copy and paste since it won't let me hyperlink it) http://youtu.be/V4yBypIWdrQ Mr. Cronin starts his attack around 47 min. Please start attending our board meetings and letting them know this kind of behavior is absolutely unacceptable in our district! We are taking this petition to the BOE meeting at the end of June. Please sign and forward to anyone else you know in 201.

My child was bullied and the girls are allowed to stay in school and my straight A student has bad grades and now wants to kill herself because nothing was done to the girls.

Governor LePage recently vetoed a bill that would have adopted new K-12 science standards that include climate science. For the first time, all Maine students would have been presented the evidence that supports the overwhelming scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. With his veto, Governor LePage is standing in the way of Maine kids learning the truth about climate change. While Governor LePage claimed he vetoed the science bill for cost reasons, he was heavily lobbied by climate deniers to block the science standards. The opposition in Maine is part of a coordinated effort by vocal anti-science activists across the country to stop the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), almost entirely because the comprehensive standards include climate education. The world-class NGSS were developed by the National Academy of Sciences, together with scientists and science educators from Maine and throughout the country. The Maine Science Teachers Association and Maine STEM Council strongly support the new standards, which are designed to increase scientific literacy among all students. Science supporters have vowed to bring the bill back next year. But to prevent a repeat of Governor LePage’s veto, parents, teachers and science education supporters need to speak out to make it clear that Mainers support climate science education. Please sign the petition to Governor Lepage in support of a high quality science education that includes climate science for Maine students!

Our children in public K-12 schools are suffering from the unintended consequences of high-stakes testing, such as curriculum narrowing to focus more exclusively on tested subjects and content (English and Math, at the expense of other subjects like science, social studies, and the arts), more test prep and drilling in early elementary (despite going against the advice of early education experts and developmental psychologists for more play-based experiential learning), loss of instructional time due to school wide testing days and test prep activities (and even more days of testing if we move to PARCC), loss of computer lab opportunities for actual learning due to new computerized PARCC tests. It's time to end this trend.

The music and arts educational programs are of very important cultural significance! Every child should have the opportunity to bring forth the song in their soul, the skill in their minds and their hands, and the passion in their heart! http://www.ijreview.com/2015/06/336560-atlanta-cut-kids-music-education-schools-new-superintendant/?source=FBshare

Act 31 of 1983 ended our state's 50% reimbursement guarantee of local school funding. Every year since has seen a reduction of state funds going to local school districts. Currently, Pennsylvania only funds 36% of local education expenditures--ranking near the bottom as 45th in the nation for low state funding. The Pennsylvania legislature has shifted the burden of financing PreK-12 education onto local property owners. The local property owners in Pennsylvania, people like you and me, pay over 45% of education costs compared to an average of just 29% in other states. The Pennsylvania legislature, since 1999, has also failed to fund $29 BILLION in pension obligations while local school districts and school employees have continuously made the required contributions. Now the legislature is trying to shift the burden of these unfunded obligations onto the local taxpayers. This is unacceptable. New funding sources need to be accessed to rectify this issue. We believe that the Costing Out Study of 2006 was a move in the right direction toward adequacy because it determined the base cost of educating a student to meet state education standards. And now that the state is the prime determiner of educational adequacy, they should be the prime funder of education. We believe that the Funding Formula of 2008-2011 was a step in the right direction for allocating funds to School Districts with equity. It would make sense for the state to continue in that route by developing a method for FAIRLY allocating funds to districts based on an equalized local effort and not on the lop-sided local spending formulas and political vote-swapping in use today.

I am a teacher. It is NOT the students' fault if their parents do not send their lunch money. I want students to go to school without worry about food. If the parents forget to send money, the parents need to get a cheese sandwich for lunch.

As a long time educator, I realize how important having CERTIFIED teachers is for all students. Our children are our most important asset and you are NOT honoring this fact by proposing having anyone with any kind of degree teach in the public school. Stand up for YOUR constituents, not your party.

Wisconsin wants to continue excellence in education rather than have the lowest teacher standards in the country. My children are just starting school in Rhinelander (first grade and 4k for next year). Please help make sure all kids will be taught by trained teachers so they can receive the best education.

The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf has projected a huge $800,000 deficit for the coming school year. Yet, despite repeated requests by families, outside agencies and the Union, PSD refuses to share relevant financial information about its budget and spending for the current and upcoming school years. Instead, the school has established a secret committee, which generated a list of programs and staff to be cut, ostensibly to address the yet-to-be-substantiated deficit. All of the staff threatened with layoffs provide direct services to children which are legally mandated in IEPs; are fluent in ASL; and have strong ties to PSD students, families and the Deaf community. PSD has not provided any concrete plans or answers to parents or staff about how children will continue to receive quality services, or how PSD will remain a financially viable and stable learning environment. It has also become evident that the PSD Board does not intend to honor the commitment made to respect and bargain with the new union in good faith. During negotiations PSD has ignored legally mandated bargaining with the union and made changes to staff working conditions, policies, and compensation. Parents, too, have been rebuffed and shut out of meetings, conversations, and decisions that will impact our children. The Board has consistently undermined communications, transparency, and the ability of staff to partner effectively with parents and administration to provide the best possible education and supports for our students. It is well past the time for transparency and good faith. Stop denying your stakeholders the opportunity to have input into the decision making for the future of PSD.