Dear Board members: America thrives on diversity and is a synthesis of varied races, religions, and cultures. The fusion of cultures here is so exceptional that citizens can be just as proud of their original cultural heritage as they are to be an American. In our own town of Millburn, the escalating influx of Indian Americans in the last five years has dramatically changed the demographics. There are thousands of Indian Americans in town. Hindu students are a significant presence in our township schools. It is thus critical to recognize this religious and cultural diversity. Hinduism is a major religion in the world, next only to Christianity and Islam. And Diwali is the biggest festival for Hindus – it is the Hindu version of Christmas and Hanukkah. But it also has significance for other religious groups such as Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. Diwali is a celebration of good over evil, a value that has such universal appeal that even the White House has been celebrating it for the past five years. Observing one day school holiday for Diwali, a festival which is in fact celebrated over five days, would make a meaningful difference to the scores of people celebrating it in town. It would allow them time to celebrate as the holiday is meant to be celebrated: by going to the temple, exchanging gifts, calling relatives in India or simply celebrating with immediate family and friends throughout the day. It would impress upon children, who soak up values from the surrounding culture, that different heritages are celebrated by all. Creating awareness about other religions and cultures would make Millburn students well-nurtured, well-balanced, and enlightened citizens of tomorrow. This request to recognize one of the major festivals celebrated in town is neither radical nor unreasonable. It is going to take all of us, working together, to embrace, enrich and celebrate the American diversity in our own community. Please support the movement and declare Diwali a school holiday in Millburn. Sincerely, Padmaja Chinta Millburn, New Jersey December 18, 2013.

To save garr academy by having the sign the M.O.U and stepping down. This is affecting me because my daughter is a long time student of garr as well as many other students who are being forced out and given no choice but to be removed from the environment that excel in and subjected to the over crowding and low test scores of public schools thus affecting their ability to learn.

It is dangerous to have school on 12/18/13 due to snow and ice conditions. I am seriously concerned about the ice already on the sidewalks and the heavy snowfall on top of that. These conditions alone should be enough to cancel school and protect our community. If school isn't canceled students could get hurt getting to and from school. Some students have long commutes and it is always best to make the safest choice possible and not risk anything.

The vast majority of educators enter their career in a quest to educate our young and impressionable youth. They have dreams of making a difference. Teachers ensure that their dreams come to fruition, by planning engaging, differentiated and rigorous lessons. In addition to teachers spending countless hours planning, they spend even more time cultivating rapport with the parents and students that they serve. Teachers do the aforementioned, day after day, even though they continue to be underpaid and under-appreciated. In addition to teachers being underpaid, post obtaining a master’s degree (so that they are deemed highly qualified in their content areas), they are often left with expensive student loans, with high interest rates. Unfortunately, this usually means that teachers are working to pay back their student loans, because often times they have very little money to pay their monthly bills, let alone money to travel or partake in leisure. Moreover, many teachers work part time jobs, just to make ends meet. Currently, there are loan forgiveness plans that forgive $17,000 worth of debt, for teachers who have worked 5 consecutive years in schools that serve students who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This is problematic, because educating youth, is educating youth. Furthermore, all stakeholders, in the arena of education, know that the scholar who lives in an affluent school district requires just as much teacher preparation, as the scholar that resides in a non-affluent zip code. For this reason, I am asking policy makers to reevaluate their EXTREMELY limiting loan forgiveness programs that are available for teachers, by extending loan forgiveness to ALL teachers. I am also asking that policy makers consider reducing or eliminating interest, for teachers.

This is started because it is a cause I believe in and this is a school assignment!

The McKinney FFA Heifer program offers educational benefits not provided by Market projects. I have spent four years in this program learning its ins and outs and cannot imagine future high scholars not being able to do the same. Don't let this program fade out. Help us keep it in place!

Recently, a student asked my co-worker, “Why do we keep having new principals?” One thing I have learned in my experience as a teacher is that schools must sustain a stable learning environment for students. This is not the case at ASPIRA of Illinois, which has endured two changes in the network’s administration, repeated turnover in school leadership, and well over 50 percent teacher turnover. Our students deserve stable learning environments.

Children as young as 5 years old are experiencing test anxiety due to standardized testing. Dallas ISD is over-testing our children. Standardized tests do not improve student achievement and are not a reliable way to measure a students or teachers abilities. My tax dollars should not be spent on standardized tests.

We believe that the solution to violence is compassion and connection, which can be taught through the Nonviolent Communication, 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.

In my opinion the punishment does not fit the offense, suspended for a whole year and cause him to possibly miss his graduation? Come on now, should he be punished? I do not know, could there have been other steps taken to maybe remove Sam from this class? Absoutely, with the drop out rate of kids these days, not to mention other barriers to success many of our children face, for Sam to make it to 12th grade, then tell him get out? Unacceptable, I am sorry, but this is just not acceptable and will damage Sam way more than the teacher. Plain and simple the punishment does not fit the offense. Thank you in advance Governor, please help Sam get back to the books, please help him to keep his scholorships

Last week, the Miami Herald published an article investigating the relationship between a notorious for-profit college (Dade Medical College) and state Rep. Carlos Trujillo. According to the Herald, Trujillo once did legal work for Dade Medical and his sister-in-law appears to have received free tuition to attend the school. For-profit colleges, like Dade Medical College, can be a dangerous pick for students. Their costs are often way too much, and students frequently leave without a credential or with one that leaves them hugely underprepared for the career they intend to pursue. But, Trujillo’s ties to an institution of questionable educational value are not the worst part. Recently, he used his position as a legislator to weaken laws that were put in place to protect students from underperforming schools like Dade Medical. According to the Miami Herald: “The tuition issue is not Trujillo’s only link to Dade Medical. As an attorney, Trujillo performed legal work for the college, and earlier this year, the Miami Republican sponsored legislation that loosened the accrediting requirements for physical therapy assistant programs. Dade Medical offers a $35,050 physical therapy assistant associate degree, and the state law change enabled the college to rapidly expand its program to five different campuses. Under the old accrediting rules, Dade Medical would have had to start with one campus, and then expand little by little. Trujillo’s legislation, could ultimately boost Dade Medical’s revenues by millions of dollars.” This is utterly despicable. Many students have criticized Dade Medical for overcharging them and for failing to provide a useful education. The school’s former president and founder is caught up in a slew of criminal accusations, which led to his recent resignation. In short, this is not the type of school a state representative should be supporting. Trujillo should be using his power to protect the students of Florida, not to increase the revenue of his friends at schools like Dade Medical.

Pahoa High & Intermediate School has not had a School Librarian for the past five years and could benefit from services that most Hawaii public school students enjoy. Students begin post-secondary experiences already at a great disadvantage: they don't know how to use a library. As educators, we are demanding equity for all Pahoa area students that they may have universal access to educational resources Susan Kay Anderson, Classroom Teacher, Pahoa High & Intermediate Virginia Brautigan Aste, Substitute Teacher, Pahoa, Hawaii