Although Luis Muñoz Marín Elementary School has been stripped of staff and resources during Philadelphia’s ongoing budget crisis, this year there was good news: The school is making a comeback under the guidance of a new, much-loved principal. But now the school district has targeted Muñoz Marín for a charter school takeover by ASPIRA of PA—and local parents are crying foul. ASPIRA of PA, a charter organization, is currently under scrutiny for suspicious financial practices and misuse of funds that never made it to the classroom. ASPIRA of PA is also engaged in an ugly anti-union fight at another Philly school, pitting its expensive lawyers against its own teachers who are seeking a voice and a union. The National Labor Relations Board has filed numerous unfair labor practice charges against the charter operator; in every case, ASPIRA of PA has been forced to concede, settle and correct its practices. Sadly, ASPIRA of PA has a powerful advocate in Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez, who was once its executive director. She pledged to support unions and workers’ right to organize, but was quick to endorse ASPIRA of PA, a union-busting organization, in its takeover attempt of our public school. We, the parents of Muñoz Marín students, do not want our children’s destiny in the hands of ASPIRA of PA—with its financial problems and anti-union values. We call on Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez to stay true to her constituents, to request a City Council investigation into the troubling allegations around ASPIRA of PA, and to protect our children from the School Reform Commission’s apparent strategy of abandoning our public school system. Rather than declaring our school a failure, we ask Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez to advocate for our school’s funding, staff and resources to be restored. That loss of resources is the real plague at Muñoz Marín. Our school deserves a fair chance.

A close friend of mine attends Uplift North Hills Preparatory school in Texas. Students at that school, and others like it, are subjected to hours of busy work that gives them tremendous amounts of stress and only a few hours of sleep, if any. Stress has been proven to have lifelong affects, causing anxiety and depression. My friend has both of these. A simple stress survey would raise awareness of this problem. Tell the government to create a free stress survey for ALL schools to distribute to students, and make it mandatory that ALL schools participate and receive their results. That way schools will see the truth about stress and where it comes from, and start working to stop stress. SPREAD THE WORD!

While considering initiatives that reform education I fear that problems, such as massive and crippling student debt, are compounded rather than being solved. I believe a better academic system will result with foundational change of expanding universal public education. Further, I am convinced that the education system is in the foundation of culture, government and society. For the best creative thinking, research and leadership we need to relieve the burdens of debt that plague American students by forgiving all student debt. More, in behalf of creating the most democratic, secure and happy civilization, the best investment we can make is in expanding free public education. With free access to education for all, including higher education, literacy rates will soar and creative answers will begin to surface for numerous problems like corruption, inequality, injustice, environmental degradation and violence.

Education & proper treatment for a young boy with Aprexia & Autism

Demos is a public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy. Student debt is a core issue of ours, and we support Senator Warren's bill. For more on the bill: http://www.warren.senate.gov/documents/BankonStudentsFactSheet.pdf

To be delivered TUESDAY, JUNE 10th (THIS TUESDAY) There could be a vote as early as next week, so sign and share TODAY and tell the Senate NOW to vote YES on S2292! “This is TRULY an emergency” stated Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “The idea here is that we are going to lower the interest rate on OUTSTANDING student loans…Get people back on their feet, so they can pay their loans off sooner, so they can reduce their monthly payments and help families move forward. Help this economy move forward.” Senator Warren, along with two-dozen other Senators, introduced the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act. This bill would allow borrowers, like YOU, to refinance their federal and private student loans to a lower interest rate. This will save borrowers thousands of dollars over the life of their loan.

One of the primary reasons federal officials originally got involved in public education was to promote equity. Legislation like the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) were supposed to help our neediest children have the educational experiences they need to succeed. But that mission has been seriously compromised, especially since the passage of NCLB under the Bush Administration, and continued under the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top (RTTT). Far from promoting equity, these initiatives have helped facilitate a corporate takeover of public education, by increasing the importance and the amount of high-stakes testing, which corporate-friendly local and state officials have used to justify closing growing numbers of schools in low-income communities of color, and giving our schools away to private charter operators. These charter operators have posed a serious problem. Our partners, the Center for Popular Democracy and Integrity in Education, recently released a report looking at this issue. In just 15 states of the 42 with charter school laws, they found that charter operators have cheated the public out of over $100 million in taxpayer money. That number can’t even begin to capture the harm done to the children in their care—children who went without nutritious lunches, school supplies, and more while charter cheats purchased expensive vacations, homes and other extravagances, all on our dime. Yet despite all of this, Congress is now poised to vote on a bill this week that would send $300 million more of our tax dollars to the charter industry. Ignoring the educators, community members, reporters, judges, Attorneys General, and even the US Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General who have warned that nearly-nonexistent standards and poor oversight leaves charters especially vulnerable to fraud, Congress is actually considering a bill that would encourage states to further expand the charter industry, while doing virtually nothing to establish desperately-needed protections. Enough is enough. Our federal officials should be funding educational opportunities for each and every one of America’s kids, not just the children in charter schools. And they definitely shouldn’t be sending our money to a poorly regulated industry that puts kids at risk for its operators’ personal gain. Tell Congress to vote NO on H.R. 10.

The Westport public school Administration has decided to "blend" the Kool to be Kind (K2BK) curriculum into their existing social studies curriculum, thereby abandoning the essence of K2KB - a program designed to give HS students the power to help elementary school kids with real and complicated social situations. The administration has cited inconsistent language, inconsistent messages, and parent involvement as reasons to abandon K2BK curriculum. The K2BK directors are willing to do almost anything to ensure the program continues – including stepping down and allowing the Dept. of Health to take over. The K2KB message is clear – be kind, accept differences, open your eyes to those around you, stand up for what you believe is wrong. In this day and age, we need more people instilling the same messages over and over – not less. Please sign and get involved to save K2BK.

This petition will allow for those working or unable to be flexible with their current situation another option to supplement their income without interrupting their life style. Online schools should be approved for cosmetology students as well as other programs.

We need signatures to be able to have our dress code changed at TuHS. Our dress code is unfair, and enforced in a sexist manner; furthermore, the way that it is enforced publicly humiliates the young women at our school.

This initiative is driven by the desire to bring about the kind of change in the history curriculum taught in schools across the country that better prepares all students to understand and engage in events of national and international significance. To achieve this end, history must be taught in a manner that is free from bias and based on the most recent scholarship. In the state of California, world history is introduced to students in sixth grade starting with ancient civilizations. Concerned with an inadequate and outdated coverage of the ancient Persian civilization by the public school curricula, a group of California parents came together to address this problem. For more detail, please see www.historyadvocates.com. Currently in the Senate, Bill SB 1057 is addressing these very concerns: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB1057

My petition is for Lansing's schools to gain education about pollution and the like. My little brother is in jr. high, and they're hardly learning about it at all. They need to learn! Please sign my petition to start teaching children and teens all about pollution.