HB 921 would drop all state textbook reviewing responsibilities. It would require that counties review and buy their own textbooks. Our public schools are already underfunded and overwhelmed. They do not have the time or the means to select their own textbooks. Not only that, but it would allow ideological ideas to seep into our public school system. Our children wouldn't be on the same page as those in other counties. This would create a great inconsistency across the whole state. HB 921 was approved by the Senate and now goes to the House. We need your voice to tell our local Representatives to vote NO on HB 921!

The PhD students and TAs of the Northeastern University College of Social Sciences and Humanities have recently learned that the incoming PhD students for the 2014-2015 academic year will receive a TA stipend of $20,000, while the stipends of the current students will remain unchanged at much lower rates - barely adjusted for inflation. This means that many current PhD students in the social sciences will lag behind their newer cohorts by as much as 25% in funding per year. For PhD students predominantly supporting themselves on a TA stipend, this monetary discrepancy is very significant to our standards of living. Yet such considerations are not even as distressing as the effects that this unequal structure of incentives will have on graduate departments, cohort dynamics, and overall university standing. As dedicated, hard-working Northeastern PhD students, we demand equal stipend rates for all. Therefore, we urge the College of Social Sciences and Humanities to equalize current students’ stipends to those of the new incoming class for the following dominant reasons: FAIRNESS & PROMOTION OF A COLLEGIAL ENVIRONMENT: Different stipend rates for PhD students within the same program will breed an environment of inequality. The university is implicitly stating that newer students deserve more financial support than older students, and this may lead to negative relations between students in the department. As a matter of principle, a PhD program should value its students equally, yet this funding policy assures that some students will appear more valuable than others and receive more material support in their academic pursuits. In this way, the department also fails to value the accumulated experience of its older cohorts, especially their roles as mentors to newer students. Moreover, due to the Graduate School’s new 10-hour TA policy for first year students, the older cohorts are increasingly taking over responsibility for TA/RA activities - yet they continue to receive lower compensation over the years. We understand that as Northeastern University and our departments increase in stature, the university must offer more attractive incentive packages to new students in order to compete with other universities. However, those of us who have already been accepted and are currently enrolled in the program are at least in part responsible for the enhanced reputation of our programs. Further, we also face the dilemma of leaving the program (or supplementing our TA pay with other work that ultimately can detract from our effectiveness as teachers and aspiring scholars) in order to generate more income. A competitive stipend is necessary, but should be applied to all of us. DISTORTED INCENTIVES: Unequal stipend rates create a structure of disincentives for current students. This structure rewards new recruits at the expense of students making progress in the department, and this pattern becomes more troubling with each passing year. As it stands now, the new students will receive significantly higher monetary support than other students, regardless of the other students’ years of experience, accomplishments, or other merits. Along with damaging department morale, funding is only one factor considered by potential PhD students and is usually dwarfed by other considerations, including research interests and job placement opportunities. RETENTION RATES & ACADEMIC SUCCESS: In time, the distorted incentives created by this funding system may show themselves in the performance of PhD students across programs. With less funding and support, older graduates will have less time to dedicate to their classes and research, and they will have less incentive to remain fully dedicated to their programs. In the long run, these trends may harm the success of graduate program rankings overall, as too many graduate students will not be supported at the same level as others, hindering their potential for publications and other projects. In light of these main factors, the Northeastern PhD students petition for the equalization of stipend rates across cohorts. As it stands, the current system promotes only unfairness, disunity, and disincentives that harm the future of our university as a whole.

The USDA's new proposed guidelines to the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Section 204) provide a CRUCIAL opportunity to protect children from being preyed upon in their schools by the food industry. Food marketing in schools has been linked to the rise of childhood obesity, and the current proposed USDA guidelines, while an important first step, only address regulating marketing on school grounds during school hours. If we do not act now, food companies will continue to undermine parents and school administrators in their efforts to provide a healthy environment for children to learn. Sign this petition by April 28th, and tell the USDA you demand that regulations on marketing extend to after-school hours.

We urge our Department of Education and our local policy-makers to address the following topics: 1. Establishing a universal definition and understanding of the term "dyslexia" within our state education code. 2. Mandating early screening and identification of at-risk students. 3. Mandating Alabama teacher certification and ongoing professional development to include training on dyslexia and appropriate intervention strategies. 4. Mandating the use of appropriate research based reading interventions for at-risk students in both general and special education programs. 5. Providing for access to assistive technology for all at-risk students in both general and special education programs. We call on Alabama policy-makers to support students with dyslexia. It is time for Alabama Public Schools to catch up with the science on reading and dyslexia. AL Residents (18+) ONLY Follow Us! www.facebook.com/DecodingDyslexiaALA twitter.com/DecodingAL google.com/+Decodingdyslexiaala www.decodingdyslexiaALA.com

Why does Pennsylvania need tuition-free community colleges? +College is becoming so expensive that is becoming only a dream for many Pennsylvania families. +A college degree means higher wages. Over their lifetime, someone with a college degree can expect to earn almost $1 million more than someone with only a high school diploma. +Business owners looking to start up or relocate look for educated workforces. +States as diverse as Tennessee and Oregon are considering tuition-free community college. +The cost of educating a person at the beginning of their career means less reliance on social services in the future.

The Koch brothers just got the Kansas legislature to kick public education to the curb. This weekend, Kansas conservatives tackled inequities in public school funding to push for an elimination of due process for teacher firings and the start of mass layoffs. Due process hearings protect Kansas teachers from arbitrary firings. Denying this right to teachers leaves them at the mercy of any angry parent or corrupt administrator — and conservatives, paid for and backed by the Kochs that got them elected, rammed the change through by voting in a covert 4am meeting! Kansas Democrats and the teachers union are fighting to challenge this bill's legality and stop the Kochs from ruining Kansas students' educations. But they need our voices to make their fight stronger!

Re-opening Nathan Hale School as an elementary school is the RIGHT choice for the East Side and the Town of Manchester. We, the undersigned Parents, Teachers, Business Owners and concerned Neighbors support the health & well-being of the East Side Neighborhood, a VITAL part of our town. The return of our beloved elementary school will mutually benefit Manchester and ALL of its residents.

As families with students who are approaching high school age, we are concerned that DPS's significant changes to the design and construction of Phase I of the Northfield High School will put the success of the high school at risk. DPS is asking parents to send their children to a partially-built high school. Students will bear the risk of a future bond passage to complete what was scheduled to be built in Phase I when voters approved the 2012 bond. The planned Phase 2 on the 2016 bond was intended to build out needed capacity, not to finish the common spaces Phase 1 was to provide and that DPS construction services said would be more cost-effective to build all at once in Phase 1. As Denver residents, we are committed to this city and Denver Public Schools. The success of this high school is a city-wide issue. DPS has a chance to build this high school community where students from all over Denver can find their place, push their boundaries and succeed.

I want our wonderful little school, The Mickey Mantle School, to be able to continue .

I applied for Indian Health Service Scholarships and was told I was the top IHS candidate, but not chosen, because someone changed my year of completion on my application. I asked my congressional member to investigate and was told "he doesn't want to get involved." Indian Health Service personnel admitted they shredded my application. "That's our usual procedures." It did not stop me, I took out student loans and now will spend the rest of my life repaying them. I choose to work for American Indian non-profits and sovereign nations.

Over the last three years, students across Pennsylvania have been subjected to deep budget cuts. Families have been forced to pay higher property taxes. School districts are expected to meet higher standards with less funding. Pennsylvania has become one of only three states without a funding formula. Please do everything you can to support Pennsylvania's greatest investment: our children.

The PubBoard is a committee that supervises student publications at Seattle Central Community College. It is currently chaired by the Dean of Student Leadership: the same department that controls funding and personnel management of Seattle Central's student publications. Such concentration of authority over student press is an unacceptable threat to the press' public mission. We urge President Killpatrick to appoint a neutral faculty member (i.e. someone who is acceptable to both student journalists and to Student Leadership) as chair of the PubBoard, so that student publications will be supervised in a fair, transparent, and accountable manner.