We, the citizens of Philadelphia, believe the state’s takeover of our schools through the School Reform Commission has weakened the voices of parents and community in the operation of public education in Philadelphia. We have gathered 40,000 signatures to place this measure on the ballot that would return local control to Philly. We now call upon the Philadelphia City Council to stand aside and put the amendment on the November ballot to abolish the School Reform Commission and return local control of Philadelphia’s schools. They should also encourage their constituents to support the amendment.

Over the last 4-5 years, Detroit Public Schools, has had 3 Emergency Managers. All have come in with 6 figure salaries, brought in an executive staff with 6 figure salaries, closed schools and left with the school system still millions of dollars in the red. Their solution to balance the budget is to cut employee salaries, raise health care premiums and increase class sizes, which is detrimental to students and staff. Teachers took a10% pay cut last year and now they are imposing another 10% pay cut this school year. DPS cannot cut its way to prosperity, particularly at the expense of the employees,whose salaries and benefits are not the reason it is on the brink of bankruptcy. I'm starting this petition to bring this attack on education to the forefront. We must stop the politicians from raping the education system!

I HAVE A GRANDDAUGHTER WHO IS BEING CRUCIFIED BY THIS SYSTEM

WE NEED PRAYER BACK IN SCHOOL 3 TIMES A DAY. CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS, JEWS, ISREALITES, NO MATTER WHAT RELIGION. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO PRAY THEN DON'T . AS FOR ME IN MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD AT ALL TIMES AND ANY WHERE WE CHOOSE . ONE WOMAN STOPPED IT NOW LET 1 MILLION PEOPLE PUT IT BACK IN PLACE.

As a Philadelphia public school teacher for more than 14 years, I've seen firsthand the damage Walmart can do in our communities. My brother worked as a Walmart manager and saw how Walmart's business model destroyed families. But learning that the Walton Foundation is funding attacks on our schools was my tipping point. After eight years teaching health and physical education in the same school, my school was taken out of the district’s control and every single teacher was forced to be transferred - all in the name of creating a privately-controlled charter school with little oversight or accountability. I was forced to transfer to a new school and leave behind students who had grown up with me as their teacher since kindergarten. Teachers and students across Philadelphia have experienced these kinds of devastating school closures, which destabilize our communities and often take resources from students who need them the most. All of this was largely thanks to the work of the Philadelphia School Partnership, which received $5 million from the Walton Foundation in 2013 alone. Unfortunately, Philadelphia is not unique. The Walton Foundation funds anti-public education initiatives like this across the country. And yet their stores profit enormously from school teachers and parents, who stock up on school supplies each year during the back-to-school season. This year I'm taking a stand - I will be spending my back-to-school dollars elsewhere. Will you join me?

My good friend has a child at Clear Creek with severe nut allergies. So severe that he cannot even come into contact with traces of any kind of nut. My daughter is also affected with allergies to nuts and some trees. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more allergies in our children. We need to make sure that we are prepared if one of them goes into Anaphylaxis shock. In these critical moments our school nurse may not be available. This could be the difference between that child's life and death. Just imagine if your child couldn't breathe. I watched it happen on a small scale with my child and it was one of the scariest moments of my life. Help us make EpiPens accessible all over school and get qualified personnel training to administer them. The cost is low and training can be done online within an hour. Please help us.

Rep. Randy Hultgren voted for a federal budget that cuts $18 billion from early education programs -- taking 170,000 out of preschool classrooms -- $89 billion in K-12 programs and $205 billion in higher education initiatives over the next decade. That's $312 billion in total. Every child deserves a fair shot in life and that starts with a quality education. Programs like Head Start and support for special education and disadvantaged students will see massive cuts. As a result, as many as 50 million children would see their education programs cut or eliminated. Meanwhile, as state and local budget cuts have already stretched schools thin, federal funding is often the only source of funding for early or special education. We need to send Congressman Hultgren a strong message so that he knows this budget doesn't represent out values. We have a chance to make an impact over the next few weeks as Rep. Hultgren is on recess and making public appearances. We want him to champion a budget that invests in children. If enough of us sign, Rep. Hultgren will know exactly where his district stands.

Rep. Peter Roskam voted for a federal budget that cuts $18 billion from early education programs -- taking 170,000 out of preschool classrooms -- $89 billion in K-12 programs and $205 billion in higher education initiatives over the next decade. That's $312 billion in total. Every child deserves a fair shot in life and that starts with a quality education. Programs like Head Start and support for special education and disadvantaged students will see massive cuts. As a result, as many as 50 million children would see their education programs cut or eliminated. Meanwhile, as state and local budget cuts have already stretched schools thin, federal funding is often the only source of funding for early or special education. We need to send Congressman Roskam a strong message so that he knows this budget doesn't represent out values. We have a chance to make an impact over the next few weeks as Rep. Roskam is on recess and making public appearances. We want him to champion a budget that invests in children. If enough of us sign, Rep. Roskam will know exactly where his district stands.

Rep. Rodney Davis voted for a federal budget that cuts $18 billion from early education programs -- taking 170,000 out of preschool classrooms -- $89 billion in K-12 programs and $205 billion in higher education initiatives over the next decade. That's $312 billion in total. Every child deserves a fair shot in life and that starts with a quality education. Programs like Head Start and support for special education and disadvantaged students will see massive cuts. As a result, as many as 50 million children would see their education programs cut or eliminated. Meanwhile, as state and local budget cuts have already stretched schools thin, federal funding is often the only source of funding for early or special education. We need to send Congressman Davis a strong message so that he knows this budget doesn't represent out values. We have a chance to make an impact over the next few weeks as Rep. Davis is on recess and making public appearances. We want him to champion a budget that invests in children. If enough of us sign, Rep. Davis will know exactly where his district stands.

Let us as parents stand up for our kids and say let them have twenty (20) minutes to be free to be themselves!

We are immersion parents who would like to keep experienced, quality guest teachers in our district by sponsoring H1B Visas. We have lost great teachers to other Utah School Districts who are willing to do this. Having a new teacher every year or every couple years is very difficult and not optimal to the educational environment. While there is a cost associated with the visas, there is a cost to training and support of new teachers as well; the difference is our children benefit more from experience than new teacher training. We want this issue studied and considered ASAP as teachers need to know by end of September.

Happy Go Lucky would be a valuable resource for parents and families of the Oneco, Florida area. We choose to serve the families where there is a higher crime rate, higher poverty rate, and language barriers. We provide valuable information and resources that not only benefit the families, but the community in whole. We believe our staff at HappyGoLucky Daycare instill good values in our children and have made them feel comfortable, safe, and loved. We have asked for VPK services at our new site within this community and have been denied. I believe it is unfair for the children of this community to have to receive services elsewhere as we already have a relationship with many families in the community. Our children are individuals, not numbers. Our community is important to us and we take it seriously. If we do not fight for our children, then who will? Our community is behind us; will you be?