• Support the Portland School Budget
    Our kids' education should be our community's top priority. Mountains of academic research show that class size has long-term impacts on student achievement and success, particularly in the early grades and among disadvantaged children. This academic year, some classes at Riverton and Reiche elementary schools suffered large class sizes (25 to 27 students). Superintendent Emmanuel Caulk has proposed a modest 1.2% increase in the school budget for next year--enough to ensure appropriate class sizes. The proposed increase is below the federal government's 2015 inflation rate (1.7%) and is just a fraction of the 4-5% increases in school budgets proposed in neighboring districts, such as Falmouth and Yarmouth. Despite this, there are some that are calling for cutting our school budgets. If further cuts are made to the proposed budget, more children in the city will face very large class sizes. Please support Portland schools and smaller class sizes by voting to increase the school budget by at least 1.2% for next fiscal year.
    195 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Will Everitt
  • School Bonds, Not Giveaways to Big Oil
    Our state's priorities must be re-aligned. Ex-Governor Parnell's oil-tax giveaway is devastating our schools and teachers. This must be reconciled!
    80 of 100 Signatures
    Created by John S. Sonin
  • Later Start Times for Secondary Students of Issaquah
    We respectfully request that our Issaquah School District (ISD) Board and Superintendent follow the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics1 and move our middle school and high school start times to 8:30am or later. Specifically, we request that the ISD create a committee to determine how to make later start times happen. We do not need a committee to study the need; rather, we want a committee formed that will determine HOW we can make this happen, ideally to be implemented by the 2016/2017 school year. Petition Background Scientific research has proven that there is a shift in the circadian rhythm of adolescents. During this shift, it is hard for teens to fall asleep before 11pm or midnight, and they continue to produce melatonin well into the morning hours which makes it difficult to wake up. This shift coupled with early morning start times, results in chronic sleep deprivation which is bad for our kids on so many levels. When schools have delayed the start of the school day, communities have seen reduced tardiness, sleeping in class, and car crash rates, as well as improved attendance, graduation rates, and standardized test scores2. Some school districts have responded to the research and changed their start times. Since the discussion on school start times began more than a decade ago, not a single district that has made the change has decided to change back3. Saving money on transportation costs does not outweigh the damage done to the physiological and psychological functioning of middle and high school students. To improve the learning ability of students we call on the Issaquah School District Board and Superintendent to schedule transportation and start times so that no middle or high school in our district start earlier than 8:30 am. We can no longer continue to deprive our kids of adequate sleep. Please help make this very important change by signing this petition. Thank you! 1 American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement, August 25, 2014, School Start Times for Adolescents 2, 3 Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2010, Later School Start Times and ZZZs to A’s
    2,268 of 3,000 Signatures
    Created by Allison May
  • Governor Rauner, stop the cuts and make the rich pay their fair share!
    Governor Rauner has proposed drastic cuts to crucial programs in Illinois, balancing the state budget on the backs of working families before asking the wealthy to pay their fair share. Among other things, his plan will result in teacher layoffs, forcing class sizes and property taxes to swell. We demand Governor Rauner stop these cuts and support a simple solution: the Millionaire’s Tax, a proposal requiring a 3% surcharge on income over $1 million, to direct additional funding to education. Instead, in order to fund tax breaks for the rich and corporations, Rauner's budget — by and for the 1% — will eliminate these programs in Fiscal Year 2016: - Advanced Placement programs - Agricultural education - Arts and foreign language education - After School Matters, a Chicago-area after-school program renowned for its success - Alternative education that helps struggling students get back on track And it isn't just K-12 on the chopping block. The Governor also wants to make these deep cuts to higher education: - A 31.5% cut from each public university in Illinois (almost $400 million in general funds across the board) - A 50% cut to the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois program - Elimination of numerous need-based scholarship programs - Flat Funding for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) These cuts will be detrimental to teaching and learning in Illinois. More than 63% of voters supported the Millionaire’sTax proposal on the ballot in November. We urge Governor Rauner to listen to the people, support the Millionaire’s Tax to generate revenue, and sign it into law when it hits his desk.
    4,153 of 5,000 Signatures
    Created by Illinois Federation of Teachers
  • Respect the Law
    As the legislature continues to cut public funding for education, we believe that voter approved funding by proposition must be restored. A true conservative invests in the future and for Arizona that is education.
    81 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Woody Thomas
  • Reject Bill 191: Save Community Colleges!
    This bill would eliminate the whole post-secondary department that governs the Alabama two-year community college system and replace it with a board that is appointed by the governor. This is nothing more than a way for politicians to get their hands on the Education Trust Fund, not to mention that it has the potential of turning all community colleges into technical schools, leaving underprivileged individuals no chance of an academia education, which will also result in thousands of educators to lose their jobs. This is big slap in the face to both the citizens and staff of the way two-year college system across Alabama!
    27 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Perianne Wilson
  • Change the KPS Dress Code
    As of recently, the faculty of Loy Norrix High School have started to send home girls wearing leggings or other "revealing" clothing. Some have even been harrassed by security guards before being sent home. Others have been humiliated or marginalized in front of their classmates. This is simply unacceptable and is unsafe to the well-being of our female student body. Our bodies are ours, and that is not up for interpretation. We will no longer tolerate being oversexualized by the faculty and administrators; we deserve the right to wear what makes us comfortable without being harrassed or being deprived of our right to learn.
    36 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Ruby Hensley
  • Art Institutes sued for $11 BILLION, what about the students and families affected?
    In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Education Management Corporation (EDMC), who operate the chain of Art Institutes, for $11 BILLION! So what about the parents and the 151,000+ students who attended during the years 2003 to 2011, who were innocent of the crimes committed? Would paying back the student loans make them accessories to the fraud? Making these parents and students pay monies that was intended for education, but was used for salaries and bonuses for executives in the company is NOT in line with our Constitution. Consider THIS: Then-President (and now CEO) Edward West received $1,551,802 in compensation for 2009, $5,486,905 in compensation for 2010, and $6,355,982 in compensation for 2011. Then-CEO (and now Chairman) Todd Nelson received $1,812,996 in compensation for 2009, $3,804,121 in compensation for 2010, and $13 million in compensation for 2011. The year 2006 saw the takeover of EDMC by Goldman Sachs and its private equity partners. Source: Huffington Post article below. I enrolled at Ai Pittsburgh in 2009 and graduated with an Associate's in graphic design in 2010. I, like many others, had been lured in by their claims of high employment ratings and being the first, therefore the best, school for graphic design. This is far from the truth as many of the courses had nothing to do with graphic design and failed to provide the tools needed for the professional field; such as web design. I endured the same situation as Matt Bors in the Huffington Post article saying, "that many of the students in his classes had no talents to speak of, and it was clear that they would not be able to get jobs as artists or designers." This created an atmosphere not of creativity, but of confusion, discouragement, discontentment, and low spirits. As they say, "If I only knew then, what I know now", I never would have signed my parents or myself up for a $50,000 debt for a lack of education only to find out that my enrollment directly contributed to the fraud. $11 BILLION seems quite unfathomable to students and parents now burdened by sums that are miniscule in comparison. I have not paid a cent to contribute to this company's fraudulent action, and I refuse to pay a cent, or let disciplinary action to be taken upon myself or my parents. The loan company is threatening wage garnishment. How is this possible when they are accomplices to a HUGE fraud scandal? This scandal has been recognized in the Supreme Court, who then took action against EDMC. Loan agency Sallie Mae, now Navient, were hand-in-hand with EDMC, handing out loans to anyone who asked. So what happened to the $11 BILLION? While a civil court case could prove punitive damages to the ones affected, the least I am asking is for the debt to be lifted for all those in attendance at the Art Institutes from 2003 to 2011. View these articles on the EDMC money scandal, read the comments people have made on these articles, sign the petition, and help out those who have been conned into this scheme. http://www.pdnonline.com/news/The-Art-Institutes--3531.shtml http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/edmc-professors-and-stude_b_1909449.html http://petapixel.com/2011/09/02/us-gov-sues-the-art-institutes-for-11-billion-fraud/ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/education/09forprofit.html?_r=0 http://www.studentsreview.com/specific_detail.php3?uid=3147 Quote from Huffington Post article: "Senator Tom Harkin's Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee calculates that 77.4 percent of EDMC's 2010 revenue came from U.S. Department of Education student financial aid." In 2012, an online petition was started by Vaughn Reynolds at Change.org. He sought to unite Art Institutes students at various campuses in opposition of the teacher layoffs, to educate students and the public about the impact of Wall Street ownership of colleges. The petition has more than 2800 supporters so far. A related Facebook group has over 1800 members. Find the Facebook link here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aistudents/?ref=ts
    31,461 of 35,000 Signatures
    Created by JC
  • School Day Starting Later
    My petition is about how high schoolers should start school later in the morning because it is scientifically proven that the brain does not start working until 10am.
    16 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Valerie Catalano
  • Provide adequate funding to the UC system in California
    I'm starting this petition to ensure our California UC schools get the funding they need. In a world where many nations provide free higher education to their people, it is an embarrassment and a shame that deeply offends me that we have such a tremendous issue with student debt and the problem isn't going away: It's getting worse! This atrocity must end and we have to start that process now!
    51 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Alec Nygard
  • Reduce or eliminate refined sugars in public schools
    I am starting this petition I am unhappy by how much sugar is allowed and encouraged in the schools. My mother recently died from diabetes complications and I witnessed the results of a high sugar, low nutrition intake. No child should be encouraged to have ill health. Schools should instead create a statewide policy of eating healthy snacks, enjoying vegetables and finding it fun to bring healthy treats to school. Everyone benefits when you change the foods that are allowed in the schools to ones that are good for a child's overall health.
    61 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Kyra Storojev
  • Fully Fund K-12 Education in AZ
    After careful review, the Chandler Unified School District governing board, and the parents of K-12 students resolved that the proposed gubernatorial budget, if enacted, continues to degrade the ability of Arizona school districts to provide an excellent education for all students. The proposed state budget will cut $6 million from Chandler Unified School district funding. This is in addition to the already enacted district cuts of over $36 million the past five years. At the same time, proposals to arbitrarily cut essential "outside the classroom" funding jeopardizes support functions required to maintain a safe, healthy and effective school environment. The Chandler Unified School District governing board also resolves that proposed measures, such as HB2303, constitute micro management by state government that removes local community control of school operations contrary to the wishes of local citizens. For example, over 94 percent of the 50,000+ parents in the district support the current school start schedule, which would be radically changed by HB2303 with no justification, producing significant disruption to parents and staff members. The Chandler Unified School District governing board, and the parents of K-12 students oppose the proposed budget legislation. We urge the Governor and the Arizona legislature to reconsider these proposals, which we strongly believe will be harmful to our education system, students, parents and district staff. We request that our schools be properly funded and we reject any measures that reduce local community control of our schools.
    10 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Parjam Lame'