Iowa children are the future of our workforce, and will be the drivers of Iowa’s economy for years to come. A commitment to education should be an easy way to attract and retain families in our great state. Iowa ranks 35th in the nation in per pupil funding and is already more than $1,600 below the national average in annual per-pupil investment. I don't want to see cuts to world languages, social studies, the arts, or after-school activities because of underfunding our schools. Instead, I want to see our students able to compete for 21st century jobs.

Pennsylvania's public education system has been declining for most of the past 30 years due to many of the problems afflicting public education throughout the United States. Too many students' academic performance declines until they either fail to graduate high school, or graduate unprepared for further education or a career. Pennsylvania's funding formula for public education during this same 30 years has reduced the state share and increased the local share to the point where the inequities between districts with high tax bases and those with low tax bases are egregious, and render it nearly impossible for low-income school districts to close the achievement gap with better-off districts. While Governor Wolf has made education funding a priority, it is important to spell out some specifics without which merely increasing overall funding may not be sufficient to address the breadth of the problems we face.

These proposed budget cuts will affect my grandchildren's educations and must be stopped.

My son tested at genius levels in kindergarten in a non-common core state where he lived with his father. After moving to Arkansas to a common core state, he is struggling to just stay right below average. The homework for 2nd grade is several hours every night and my step daughter who is in the fourth grade has 3 to 4 hours of homework each night that I can not help with. The kids are so stressed and overwhelmed by this new way of learning. Most I know have started having self esteem issues. The teachers also don't agree with it. It just needs to stop.

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 were intended for education, but were 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, discontent, 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, was 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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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!

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.