As a child my mother faced great obstacles ranging from domestic violence to joblessness. My Pre-k learning experience provided the foundation for my social-emotional, intellectual development and success over my lifetime against the odds of poverty. The Highscope Perry study started in 1962, followed students with and without Pre-K until age 40. Those who went to Pre-K had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, more likely to have graduated from high school, to name a few of the benefits of the study!

I'm starting this petition in order to provide better opportunities for our children's future through the reduction of student loan debt. Additionally, this proposal reduces our national debt by accruing loan interest directly by the federal government (at least $55 billion dollars over 15 years). This loan interest can be used to fund future loans as well as help pay down our national debt.

My son attends Central High School and getting up at 6:00 is quite difficult. He has trouble going to sleep earlier. Check out this recent New York Times article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/to-keep-teenagers-alert-schools-let-them-sleep-in/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

This petition is an attempt to open the books to the public and renew trust in our school district. The public has lost faith in this administration's ability to tell us where the money is going and where it came from.

I teach science at Khepera Charter School. We are a small charter, committed to serving our students and community with an African-centered curriculum and through the ideal of community involvement. But it’s been 16 months since the teachers of Khepera began bargaining our second contract with the board of trustees at our school. Sixteen months! The first one-year contract served our neighborhood charter school well. It gave teachers a voice in what happens in our classrooms and our school. It offered us the ability to advocate for our students without fear of reprisal or being fired. It allowed us to teach creatively, to go “off script,” to report problems and try to solve them, to collaborate. Usually a second contract is no big deal. In such a small, idealistic community, a second contract often involves some tweaks and refinements, and maybe a small salary increase. The goal is always a better school environment for everyone. That’s why negotiations are called “good faith bargaining.” It happens every day in schools and school districts all around the country. But constant unnecessary delays are becoming a pattern at Khepera. Before signing our first agreement in 2011, the board of trustees fought our 28-person staff for 18 bitter and tumultuous months. It cost them time and money that should have been spent on our students. We can see the damage—and, more important, our students can feel it. Teacher turnover is a toxic factor for students and schools, including Khepera. Consistency is particularly crucial to our school and mission; our students come to school for continuity and reassurance along with great academics. My colleagues and I are devoted to our students, our school and our mission. But half of the teaching staff at Khepera has left since June. These educators lost hope, and took their experience and aspirations elsewhere. Our students can’t afford to lose more good teachers. Let’s end the stalemate. Help us to settle a fair contract now—one that is good for students and fair to teachers. In solidarity, Kim ‘Mama Omotayo’ Johnson Science Teacher Khepera Charter School

More and more children have trouble focusing in school and are prone to stress, hectic schedules, and obligations at a young age. Creating a world of healthy, more peaceful, and well adjusted children should be our top priority so kids can accomplish whatever their goals are! Healthy minds and bodies go hand in hand!

Funding for public universities, which educate 70 percent of all undergraduates, has declined to a point where the cost of a college education rests almost completely on the backs of students and/or their families. The outrageous and ever rising prices of college tuition are: affecting academics, slowing down the process of graduation, and prohibiting students from becoming involved on their campus and in their community. Many students are currently not only attending school full time, but also working full time, and still have thousands of dollars of loans to pay off. High tuition fees also affect young adults in the sense that they are choosing schools because of price rather than fit. College students have been walked all over for many years, and it is time to finally stand up for what is right. Individual states need to put more funding into their universities.

Wyoming just became the first state in the nation to reject world-class science standards that teach our kids about climate change. Interest groups that pushed for this move would like to bar climate science from being taught in other states too. Wyoming legislators voted to support a last-minute budget amendment that prohibits the Wyoming State Board of Education from spending funds to even consider the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) because students would learn about climate change in this fossil fuel-dependent state. Wyoming State Rep. Matt Teeters, who authored the anti-science budget amendment, told the Casper Star-Tribune that teaching climate change as fact would "wreck Wyoming's economy...and cause other unwanted political ramifications." Governor Mead signed the anti-science provision into law.1 The Board of Education could push back against political meddling and assert its authority over setting science standards, but it will take an outcry from parents and science supporters from Wyoming and throughout the country. It is a dangerous precedent to allow those who deny climate science for ideological or economic reasons to censor the science education kids need to be ready for college, career and a changing climate. Science education standards should be written by scientists and educators, not by legislators whose concerns may be more political than educational. Ten states have adopted the NGSS, a set of science standards for K-12 students developed by an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. But the harmful action taken in Wyoming could be the beginning of an assault on climate education in the states still considering these 21st century science standards. Wyoming students deserve access to high quality, world-class science standards just as much as students anywhere else in the nation. Given the stakes for our children’s future, it’s imperative that kids everywhere learn the facts of climate change so they can all become part of the solution. Please send a message to the Board of Education to stand up for Wyoming kids and their future by supporting world-class science standards, modeled after the NGSS, that include climate science. Thank you for taking action for our kids and grandkids! Sincerely, Marguerite Herman, Advocate for Science Education & Climate Parents Member Cheyenne, Wyoming Sources: 1. "Wyoming first state to block new science standards." Casper Star-Tribune. Mar. 14, 2014. Thank you for taking action for our kids and grandkids! Sincerely, Marguerite Herman, Advocate for Science Education & Climate Parents Member Cheyenne, Wyoming

High interest rates coupled with collection agency fees, increase original student debt dramatically. Many of these former students are unable to apply for a mortgage, start a family, or take out a business loan due to their outstanding and unpayable debt. During the last Bush administration, these Americans were outlawed from filing for bankruptcy, often the only recourse they had to get out from under crushing debt. This situation is a kind of indentured servitude which unwitting students signed up for, naive of the reality that they would never be able to repay these loans. These adults are not only in their 20's and 30's, but often in their 40's and 50's as well. The fact is that some of America's brightest and best are unable to thrive despite a world class education. We can change this now, and give these graduates a real future.

Since 2004, the State has been siphoning off approximately 25% of the stable county property taxes allocated to K-14 schools-- $7 billion this year. The State transfers this money away from public education and spends it on other State priorities unrelated to education. Only 3 of CA's 58 counties report this transfer to voters and taxpayers. In Alameda County, 41% of property taxes are reported spent on schools. After the state takes $272 million (over a quarter of a billion), the actual amount delivered to schools is only 27%. In L.A. County, the amount pilfered by the state was $2.1 billion, leaving the schools with only 20% of their county property taxes vs a reported 41%-- less than HALF. In San Francisco County, the actual vs. reported percentages are 18% vs. 34%. Schools deserve to receive their assigned share of the property taxes we pay like everyone else. The state is not permitted to touch the property tax revenue of ANY OTHER recipient (public hospital, park, library, fire, flood, mosquito abatement districts, cities, counties, etc). Sign NOW to give equal protection to stable, reliable funding for schools and community colleges. Let's ask the legislature to put this on the 2014 ballot - they made this back room deal and sneaky initiative, let's give voters a chance to decide if they want to keep it. California's Constitution (Article 8) states that our government will first set aside enough money for public education through the university as our #1 spending priority. Improve gov't transparency, increase reliability of school funding, and defend our State's Constitution -- all without raising taxes -- SIGN TODAY!

Since 2004, the State has been siphoning off approximately 25% of the stable county property taxes allocated to K-14 schools-- $7 billion this year. The State transfers this money away from public education and spends it on other State priorities unrelated to education. Only 3 of CA's 58 counties report this transfer to voters and taxpayers. In Alameda County, 41% of property taxes are reported spent on schools. After the state takes $272 million (over a quarter of a billion), the actual amount delivered to schools is only 27%. In L.A. County, the amount pilfered by the state was $2.1 billion, leaving the schools with only 20% of their county property taxes vs a reported 41%-- less than HALF. In San Francisco County, the actual vs. reported percentages are 18% vs. 34%. Schools deserve to receive their assigned share of the property taxes we pay like everyone else. The state is not permitted to touch the property tax revenue of ANY OTHER recipient (public hospital, park, library, fire, flood, mosquito abatement districts, cities, counties, etc). Sign NOW to give equal protection to stable, reliable funding for schools and community colleges. California's Constitution (Article 8) states that our government will first set aside enough money for public education through the university as our #1 spending priority. Improve gov't transparency, increase reliability of school funding, and defend our State's Constitution-- SIGN TODAY!

Our children's education should be top priority. Closing Verona Elementary will only hurt that. They will be put into classrooms with far to many kids and not be able to get the one on one help they may need. Plus the time they will have to spend on buses just to get to school. The welfare and education of our children should be the main goal. Not closing another school. Make cuts elsewhere to keep Verona Elementary open.