I attend New Paltz, and have found that most of my friends, who needed to seek help in coping with some of their issues did not utilize the eight sessions at the Campus Health Center allotted them. Many of those who need the most help, do not seek it in part because the stigma of seeing a "shrink" carries such a negative connotation. The mental health of our campus should not be overlooked, especially at such a progressive university; and implementing a mandatory session per semester for all students will both help to combat the stigma and improve the mental health of all our students.

With one out of three children overweight or obese school lunches have a heavy impact on children's health especially in the public school system where this is how many children receive their meals for the day. These lunches must have a much healthier balance of fruits, veggies, grains and meats to teach children healthy dietary habits that will lead to a healthier lifestyle! There are many benefits to changing these meals such as bringing in fresh local and seasonally grown fruits and veggies will lower the amount of sugars and sodium that are packed into canned foods used by cafeterias and will also stimulate the local economy. Also, eating healthier meals will have an impact of student performance in school and will help them stay focused and energized.

We believe that the solution to violence is compassion and connection, which can be taught through the Nonviolent Communication system of Marshall B. Rosenberg, which teaches us to explore the needs we have that are not being met and lead to conflict. We believe that through mandatory classes that teach us to have empathy for each other through understanding our needs and others' needs behind the issues of conflict, nonviolent solutions that satisfy our joint needs can be discovered. Violence affects us all in our society, and education is a major key to ending it.

Wall Street wants our schools. We say no. Public education is under attack from the same set of people who thought it was okay for Wall Street criminals to entrap school districts around the country in “interest rate swaps” that were sold as ways to guarantee steady income for the critical job of educating our kids. Instead they turned out to be massive drains on school budgets, for example, costing Philadelphia $331 million [1] and Chicago $150 million (and another $36 million every year). [2] In addition, so-called “reformers” are pushing kids to become test-taking automatons, while creating ways for for-profit charter schools, many of them online-only, to siphon off critical public school investments , short changing our children’s future to line the pockets of private, usually out-of-state, corporations dedicated primarily to the bottom line. No longer. We are joining with tens of thousands of parents, educators, community residents, faith leaders, and front-line union members to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education and sign on to the Principles That Unite Us. (You can see the full Principles here: http://www.reclaimpublicednow.org/home) These principles form the vision the drives our opposition to the corporate-funded education “reform” agenda that wants a market-based system of schooling based on high-stakes testing and Wisconsin-style attacks on front-line teachers. At their core, these principles envision a public education system seeks to ensure that all kids excel in school and everyone who wants to go is prepared to succeed in college. This, we believe, would be fulfilling the promise of public education. Please to take a moment to stand up and join in with the thousands of others demanding public schools that work for all of our children regardless of where they live, what color their skin is, and how wealthy (or not) their parents are. Endorse the principles by signing above. [1] “Too Big to Trust? Banks, Schools, and the Ongoing Problem of Interest Rate Swaps”, Sharon Ward, PA Budget and Policy Center, January 2012, page 1. [2] http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/19251143-452/amisha-patel-banks-soak-cps-as-schools-close.html

I am fighting for the rights of the most vulnerable children in a wonderful special education program, that is more like a family. These children have a right to be educated in their communities. They have a right to have their unique needs met. Please help me fight for the rights of our most fragile and vulnerable children, thank you. Stop Harlem Success from taking away classrooms from P811M @149!

As a teacher and parent of school age children I am concerned about their right to privacy. Imagine if your child's information - address, email, disability information, disciplinary records, performance on mental ability or psychological tests, their absentee records, academic classroom pullouts, reduced or free lunch eligibility, testing modifications, household information like foster care, single parent homes or military homes were all on a cloud that InBloom acknowledges it "cannot guarantee the security of the information stored". Guess what? It's all going to be there. NYS needs to withdraw from InBloom and protect our children's personal data and privacy.

Imagine dropping off your child to go overseas on an opportunity of a lifetime? Imagine how you would feel if your child never comes home. My son Ravi Thackurdeen died a 100% preventable death on a school sponsored surprised trip to the beach while on study abroad, two days prior to coming home on April 29, 2012. There was no beach trip not on the very stringent itinerary, however this was the 3rd year it had been done. Duke University and Organization for Tropical Studies took the students to a beach not advised for swimming due to its rip currents and the severe turbulence .caused by the four rivers that pour into it; one of them being the largest in Costa Rica. Duke/OTS took no safety devices, no communication devices, no lifeguards. The leaders and everyone watched for 40 minutes as my son was in the struggle for his life till he won't under. They then left the beach...they told us he was missing. The program continues and they tell me they are not responsible.

In October, teachers, students, parents, community organizations, civil rights advocates and faith leaders met in Los Angeles and together endorsed "The Principles That Unite Us." Now, on Dec. 9, we're taking action in New Orleans as part of a National Day of Action to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education. We're uniting around a common vision for our schools. Local teachers and parents, community groups and labor unions, students and faith leaders are united to reclaim the promise of public education for all children. We want great neighborhood public schools that are fully funded and are centers of our community, with wraparound services and curriculum that focuses on teaching and learning, not testing. We need our elected leaders to sign on to the principles. By signing this petition, you'll be telling the local board that you're united with us and that they should get on board. Together, we can reclaim public education as a propeller of our economy, an anchor of our democracy, and a gateway to opportunity for every child.

In October, teachers, students, parents, community organizations, civil rights advocates and faith leaders met in Los Angeles and together endorsed "The Principles That Unite Us." Now, on Dec. 9, we're taking action in Philadelphia as part of a National Day of Action to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education. We're uniting around a common vision for our schools. Local teachers and parents, community groups and labor unions, students and faith leaders are united to reclaim the promise of public education for all children. We want great neighborhood public schools that are fully funded and are centers of our community, with wraparound services and curriculum that focuses on teaching and learning, not testing. We need our elected leaders to sign on to the principles. By signing this petition, you'll be telling Governor Corbett that you're united with us and that they should get on board. Together, we can reclaim public education as a propeller of our economy, an anchor of our democracy, and a gateway to opportunity for every child.

In October, teachers, students, parents, community organizations, civil rights advocates and faith leaders met in Los Angeles and together endorsed "The Principles That Unite Us." Now, on Dec. 9, we're taking action in Illinois as part of a National Day of Action to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education. We're uniting around a common vision for our schools. Local teachers and parents, community groups and labor unions, students and faith leaders are united to reclaim the promise of public education for all children. We want great neighborhood public schools that are fully funded and are centers of our community, with wraparound services and curriculum that focuses on teaching and learning, not testing. We need our elected leaders to sign on to the principles. By signing this petition, you'll be telling Illinois State Senators and Representatives that you're united with us and that they should get on board. Together, we can reclaim public education as a propeller of our economy, an anchor of our democracy, and a gateway to opportunity for every child.

In October, teachers, students, parents, community organizations, civil rights advocates and faith leaders met in Los Angeles and together endorsed "The Principles That Unite Us." Now, on Dec. 9, we're taking action in Austin as part of a National Day of Action to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education. We're uniting around a common vision for our schools. Local teachers and parents, community groups and labor unions, students and faith leaders are united to reclaim the promise of public education for all children. We want great neighborhood public schools that are fully funded and are centers of our community, with wraparound services and curriculum that focuses on teaching and learning, not testing. We need our elected leaders to sign on to the principles. By signing this petition, you'll be telling local officials that you're united with us and that they should get on board. Together, we can reclaim public education as a propeller of our economy, an anchor of our democracy, and a gateway to opportunity for every child.

In October, teachers, students, parents, community organizations, civil rights advocates and faith leaders met in Los Angeles and together endorsed "The Principles That Unite Us." Now, on Dec. 9, we're taking action in Corpus Christi as part of a National Day of Action to Reclaim the Promise of Public Education. We're uniting around a common vision for our schools. Local teachers and parents, community groups and labor unions, students and faith leaders are united to reclaim the promise of public education for all children. We want great neighborhood public schools that are fully funded and are centers of our community, with wraparound services and curriculum that focuses on teaching and learning, not testing. We need our elected leaders to sign on to the principles. By signing this petition, you'll be telling local officials that you're united with us and that they should get on board. Together, we can reclaim public education as a propeller of our economy, an anchor of our democracy, and a gateway to opportunity for every child.