The youth of New Mexico need to express themselves in a positive manner. When left with no outlet, children find negative outlets. So, by offering an artistic program, serious and minor issues alike can be prevented.

In California $1 billion has been cut from early learning and care over the last five years, causing wait lists to balloon to nearly 200,000 children. In his budget proposal, Governor Brown did not allocate a single extra dollar for early learning. We need to let Gov. Brown know that this has to change.

Without sufficient funding, Philadelphia schools can't provide the basic programs and services that our children need to have an opportunity to learn. The state budget continues to be inadequate and unfair; however we must also do more at the City level to find additional resources for schools. City Council has the power to approve $120 Million in recurring funding– and they need to act. Additionally, Council and the Mayor need to work together to find the additional $75 million for schools to put in the City budget, so the City is providing the appropriate level of local support. That is why we created this petition to the City Council and the Mayor. We need them to pass the 1% sales tax extension for schools AND allocate an additional $75-100 million in recurring, local funding to start getting our schools back on track.

The future of our district depends on the person who next leads our school district. The Board of Education must hire a search firm and enlist the community to find the candidate who is the best for our district-we will not settle for anything less.

We must rebuild the American Dream instead of burying our best and brightest young minds in debt slavery. About 40 million Americans whose student loan debt exceeds the total amount of credit card debt for the first time in our nation's history. Senator Elizabeth Warren's student loan refinancing plan makes sense for our future.

Massachusetts should lead on education, but when it comes to early education we're falling behind. With 30,000 kids stuck on waiting lists, Massachusetts lags behind states like Oklahoma that offer preschool for all kids. The good news is that we have a chance right now to make real progress toward the goal of early education for all. As the Senate works on the budget -- which they will vote on before the end of May -- Sen. Daniel Wolf (Harwich) is proposing $25 million to send more kids to preschool, more than double the investment the House passes. if passed, we could take more than 2,700 kids off the wait list and put them into classrooms. We're really gaining steam. On Sunday, May 4, the Boston Globe ran a column "Fund early education, as Oklahoma does," which shows that our message is really sinking in. [1] Then, on Tuesday, May 6, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced he wants to double preschool enrollment in Boston. [2] It's clear we are moving in the right direction. But we can't stop now. The reason we've come this far is that people like you took action and got involved. And to push us over the top we need more people to take action. 1. Yvonne Abraham, "Fund early education, as Oklahoma does," Boston Globe, May 4, 2014. 2. "Mayor Walsh Seeks to Double Pre-K Enrollment," Associated Press, May 6, 2014.

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.