Massachusetts should lead on education, but when it comes to early education we're falling behind. While states like Oklahoma guarantee a year of public preschool, Massachusetts state spending on early education and care, adjusting for inflation, has declined by 50% since 2001. 1 That's not only wrong; it's short-sighted because we know that for every $1 we spend on early education, we save $7 over time. Recent studies show that kids who attend preschool not only do better in school as they grow older, they're also more likely to go to college and get a good job. We're launching a new statewide effort to show that it's time to invest in our youngest learners. We're working to get towns like Malden, and other towns across the state, to speak up and pass local resolutions in favor of early education. It's not fair that some children start kindergarten behind because their parents aren't in a position to pay for their children's early education. This is America, and we're all supposed to get a fair shot. 1. http://www.putmakidsfirst.org/about-us/

The Federal Agency from the Education Department is not flexible about lowering student loan interest rates. America went through some rough financial times, and Banks were mandated to reduce mortgage loans and were even penalized for their actions. Homeowners were given debt relief of but not students. Therefore, actions from the Federal Government to help the student population to recover from financial hardships are required to lower the high interest rates immediately. These rates should not exceed 2.5% and should not have extra condition. This low rate should be maintained for all future Student Loan programs. Education is the basis for a strong society and should be encouraged with low interest rates. These rates should be available for ALL types of student loans making Graduate and Post Graduate education accessible for this Nation's striving Economy.

I started this petition because I'm currently in a school in East San Jose where most of the students that attend this school are Latinos. A high percentage of our teachers have very little experience. This means that they are less effective at resolving a number of problems, such as: maintaining discipline, motivating students, and adapting instructions for students with special and learning needs.

As a parent and a public school teacher, I am disgusted with the amount of importance the governor is looking to place on standardized testing. Under the governor's new proposal, a teacher's evaluation would be based more than double what it is now on test scores. Children are already having too much of their school day wasted on test prep, with only 20% of teacher evaluations based on test scores. I can only imagine how out of control it would get with 50% of the evaluation based on test scores. We have great teachers across our state. TEACHERS are not the problem. Stop punishing schools and give them the money you owe them Mr. Governor. Put education ahead of your political agenda and billionaire charter school campaign contributors.

Americans owe over $1.3 trillion in student debt. Eighty-six percent of that money is owed to the United States government. This is a crushing burden for more than 40 million Americans and their families. It's time for immediate action to relieve them of this burden -- by forgiving all government-held debt, and purchasing the rest so that it can be forgiven, too. Be a Student Debt Voter, and join the fight for the Student Debt Jubilee.

While we understand that the BYOD policy is helpful during our budget cuts and allows CCPS to spend less money on technology, there are a number of problems with the BYOD policy for Carroll County Elementary Schools: A few of the problems, but not limited to this list are... 1. SOCIAL INTERACTION: Students are playing individual video games on their devices during indoor recess instead of socially interacting with other students. (1) A study out of UCLA proved that kids who were deprived of screens for five days got much better at reading people’s emotions than kids who continued their normal screen-filled lives. 2. BRING YOUR OWN DISTRACTION: When the device belongs to the student, it can be loaded with plenty of games, social networking apps, inappropriate content, and who knows what else. Students are playing these games and looking at these apps before the school bell, during lunch, during free time and at recess. The possibilities for this sort of distracting content and software are undoubtedly increased in an open BYOD scenario. If a student is limited to having the device out only when doing class work, they will likely not be accessing these apps, games, and content during the day and other students will be less likely exposed to this content as well. 3. INTERNET CONTENT FILTERING: This is a necessary fact of tech life in most schools – Internet content must be filtered. When kids are bringing their own tech to school, it makes it increasingly harder to manage, and this is only becoming more problematic thanks to the increasing proliferation of 3G and 4G wireless personal devices. An open and very unlimited BYOD program would only add to these complications, and make it that much harder for a technology department to ensure compliance with content filtering objectives and the protection of students from inappropriate content while in school. 4. The HAVE and HAVE NOT Syndrome: School life is challenging enough for some elementary school children (and their parents) without the additional pressure of having to deal with not having a device. The less fortunate kids should not have to face this every day. We do our best to not expose them when it comes to free and reduced lunches, but now we are pointing them out. 5. SCREEN TIME LIMITS: Many families are trying to limit screen times at home because there are many studies that prove too much screen time is unhealthy for your brain, your eyes, your mental health and your physical health. (2) According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids ages 8-18 now spend, on average, a whopping 7.5 hours in front of a screen for entertainment each day. We don't need to add to this time by playing on devices at school. 6. CHILDHOOD OBESITY: As pointed out above, the average child spends 7.5 hours in front of a screen. That is more than any other activity except for sleeping. (3) Too much time parked in front of the television or computer screen is driving the epidemic of childhood obesity in the U.S., according to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Students need to be encouraged to put the devices down and move. Our very unlimited BYOD policies do not promote physical activity. We need to be the voice for our children and limit the BYOD policy for their health, safety, and well being. ------------------------------------------- (1) Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues Yalda T. Uhlsa, , , Minas Michikyanb, Jordan Morrisc, Debra Garciad, b, Gary W. Smalle, Eleni Zgourouf, Patricia M. Greenfielda (2) Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds is the third in a series of large-scale, nationally representative surveys by the Foundation about young people’s media use. The report is based on a survey conducted between October 2008 and May 2009 among a nationally representative sample of 2,002 3rd-12th grade students ages 8-18, including a self-selected subsample of 702 respondents who completed seven-day media use diaries, which were used to calculate multitasking proportions. (3) Strasburger VC, et al "Policy statement -- Children, adolescents, obesity, and the media" Pediatrics 2011; 128: 201–208.

As a Miami-Dade College student I speak on the behalf of MDC and our desire for a break during the Spring semester.

Dear Arlington Residents, We need to expand language opportunities in APS to serve a critical number of francophone residents. Bilingualism increases mental flexibility for children and allows them to perform better in math, problem-solving and logic skills. It helps them to build self-esteem, creativity, and get a head start in competition for universities and jobs. Right now, families have to leave Arlington to McLean and MD for French immersion Programs.

I am a parent of a school-aged child. I want my daughter, and all children, to enjoy their years in school, instead of dreading the reforms that are bankrolled by billionaires who are just salivating over their plan to privatize public education, just to make a savage profit off of our children

With the start of our Kindness Initiative, Nardin Academy should have a Gay-Straight Alliance to provide a safer and more welcoming place for our LGBT+ students. As a pansexual student, I received a tremendous amount of backlash and discomfort surrounding my romantic/sexual orientation. Unfortunately, I know a multitude of other students who have experienced similar things. By starting a GSA, I hope to provide education and more acceptance among other students, and a safe-space for LGBT students.

I am staring this petition because I believe that many students like me were never informed about their religious rights in school. Also becuase many students and staff have a religious practice that they would like to do before an important event that they don't know they can do.

I began working as an educator in Hawaii in 1995: first as a substitute teacher at Pope Elementary School, then for summer school, then full-time subbing for the Windward District. During my many years as a tenured teacher, my concern over the quality of public education has escalated to the point of panic and despair. This is over the corporate mandates I must adhere to in order to keep my job. We have lost student access to school libraries during the day due to school librarian positions being cut. Testing has become the focus and workplace bullying the norm. Lying, cheating, and harassment by administrators is the norm. This needs to stop. How? More transparency and accountability is needed from the decision-makers in the Hawaii Department of Education. The Board of Education oversees the public school system and state library system. All Hawaii voters deserve access to meetings which take place during the work day on Oahu and to witness for themselves what is being decided regarding Hawaii's children. Join the Facebook group BOE Watch. Hawaii residents, just click the "join group" button to add your name.