Congress has not done nearly enough to target student debt. NYU, the nation's most expensive college, and a leader in student debt, is a poster child for financial mismanagement. Republican Senator Grassley has been trying to investigate, but Democrats on the committee are dragging their feet.

On the heels of a dismal 50 of 50 state ranking in the latest "Kids Count" report, RISE an innovative school idea is not approved by the Public Ed., Department. The “Kids Count” report ranks children on 16 different indicators of well-being; from education to health, to poverty and family life. However, RISE a proposed school to deliberately teach students skills on how to succeed like confidence, persistence, and resiliency (CPR) along with the essential cognitive abilities, the powers that be do not recommend such a school to be approved. Please sign the petition to show the support and need for a deliberate dual purpose education model and that our outdated education model just isn’t working for a great majority of our students Thank you, Eppie Lopez www.risenm.org

MSU has decided to short many of our members on several hundred dollars worth of pay. Several hundred dollars is a large amount to most people, but when almost all of us make well under $20,000 each year a cut of this amount from our paychecks is critical to our wellbeing. Most graduate students who were teaching assistants over the summer are affected by this pay cut. During our most recent contract negotiations with MSU, the university wanted to change the summer teaching appointment period. We worked with MSU to make sure the dates of the summer appointment period accurately reflected when summer work occurred. Because of this, there was a three-day overlap between the spring appointment period and the summer appointment period. For those three days, if a teaching assistant had both a spring appointment and a summer appointment, MSU maintains that it is only obliged to pay those TAs for one of the jobs. Stipend rates vary from department to department, but losing these for days of summer pay amounts to around $200. With 330 TAs in this situation, that is approximately $66,000 that MSU is withholding from grad student paychecks. Similarly, there is a four-day overlap between the summer and fall appointment periods that MSU does not want to pay TAs for either. GEU has been working with MSU since last year on this issue. Recently, we met with the university, thought this issue was settled, and that summer TAs would be paid properly. Two weeks later, with no explanation whatsoever, the university declined to do so. This lack of recognition for the work that we do is unacceptable.

Our children have worked hard for this opportunity! This is the last year of the TCAPS and the new Common Core standardized tests will be implemented. We suggest the MNPS school board wait and see how the students perform on these tests before changing anything. The problem may resolve itself. Allow the students who are currently enrolled at HEAD to fulfill the promise that was given to them of attending MLK in the 7th grade if they qualify. Dr. Tonja Williams stood at the podium in the auditorium in August and said our children WILL QUALIFY FOR MLK by scoring an advanced/proficient in both math and English on the TCAPS, as well as being on the A/B honor roll. By changing this and not allowing them to be grandfathered in, and then subjecting them to new testing procedures puts these particular children in grades 5 & 6 at Head in double jeopardy, while at the same time being used as guinea pigs in the new system. Moving forward, the incoming 2014 fifth graders will know what is expected of them instead of changing the rules midstream on the current student body. Making this sudden change puts the cart before the horse when we are entering a completely new way of qualifying children and their academic performance. No one has seen these new tests, yet alone knows how any child will perform. It may cut the number of children qualifying back anyway...it remains to be seen, does it not? So the predictability of increasing volumes of children qualifying for MLK are not entirely true are they? There is simply no way of knowing at this point. Parents were told at the meeting on Sept. 16th that the Head and Rosa Parks pathway does not allow for other countywide seats to be open for MLK, but in essence it does. If children want to attend MLK, they can enter Head in the 5th grade just like our kids did through the lottery when there are over 250 seats WIDE OPEN! Just like Meigs leads to Hume Fogg. Show Nashville that there are wise people on the board...people who actually care about our children's education and do what is right by voting NO. After that, let's implement more opportunities for all of the incredibly smart and gifted children in the system. The low economic and academically challenged children are served with more charter schools. As the Tennessean newspaper reported on Sept. 10th, "Metro school officials have raised alarm over the $61.3 million price tag expected to cover 22 charter schools that will operate by next year." This all became an issue because of a deficit in funding. These charter schools have an expected 6,212 students attending them! What about our kids? Where are they suppose to go? They deserve a challenging and exemplary education without having to go to a private school. Plan a two year change where the current 5th and 6th graders at Head will continue on to MLK as promised, at the same time, make Head an all academic magnet school like Meigs. With the number of children on waiting lists for Meigs this district can certainly use another all academic magnet if not two. Vote NO on the MLK/Head change.

Because our school district can not even afford paper to print classroom assignments but prisoners can go to college free in most states. When budgets are cut education always goes first and in the same vote government officials are given pay raises. WHY NOT MAKE PRISONS USE BOX TOPS AND LET SCHOOLS BE FULLY FUNDED?!?!?!!!

Adult Education has been serving California for over 150 years, but in the last five years it's been cut to the bone. The Local Control Funding Formula puts Adult Schools at risk for further school closures because it does not provide designated funding for Adult Education. Adult Education empowers marginalized communities and creates a ripple effect that includes better community health, greater school success for children, stronger families, and reduced recidivism. It provides job training to put Californians back to work. The new Local Control Funding Formula for K-12 Public Education can safeguard Adult Education if it includes Adult Ed as one of the non-flexible categoricals - and then Adult Education can safeguard our state. Your signature supports this effort and tells our elected officials that Adult Education Matters!

Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet at Pearl High School is one of only two academic magnet high schools in our city (the other being Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet). Due to recent overcrowding trends, the Metro Nashville Public Schools director has recommended dropping the seventh and eighth grades in coming years. We believe that it is necessary to keep 7th and 8th grades intact at MLK because these grades prepare students with the critical academic skills necessary for 9th through 12th grade attendance at a nationally ranked Top 100 high school. Key reasons why we believe it is important to keep the 7th and 8th grades intact at MLK: • Every single ZIP code (with the exception of Downtown Business District) in Davidson County is represented at MLK. • MLK 7th and 8th students are exposed to unique opportunities and advantages unavailable in a middle school; these include the ability to later access a record 22 AP and other advanced honors courses, cohesive 6-year pathways in key subjects such as math, science, and foreign languages, mentoring by older high school students, and lower transition stress to high school. • Students who don’t arrive until 9th grade often struggle and face challenges with MLK’s rigorous academic curriculum due to lack of adequate preparation from non-academic magnet middle school feeder schools. • The general solution for overcrowding in Metro Schools is to find more space through both temporary portables and/or more permanent additions. We never hear of other high schools removing their 9th grade class due to overcrowding. • Other potential solutions to overcrowding exist and will require changes in pathway policies and/or academic qualifying criteria.

I am a teacher who proudly voted for Bill de Blasio for Mayor. Most teachers I know did the same, though some voted for Bill Thompson. Bill de Blasio has consistently supported policies that will improve education for all New York City students and invest in the teaching force that will make that possible. He made investments in early childhood education a centerpiece of the campaign, a policy that could make a huge difference in educational outcomes in the city and help close the achievement gap. I was also encouraged by his call for a temporary halt in charter school openings, his opposition to school report cards as they stand, his criticism of high stakes testing, and his demand that communities be given a say in co-locations and closings. To reverse 12 years of dubious education policy under Mayor Bloomberg, educators must unite with other progressives in backing de Blasio. It's time for the United Federation of Teachers to endorse de Blasio for Mayor. If you are a teacher please say so in the comments when you sign.

My nephew, Antwon Whitehead, collapsed while at basketball practice Saturday 9/7/13 and died at age 15 years old. It was determined that Antwon had an enlarged heart. Had he received a more thorough sports physical prior to his playing, it would have been detected and Antwon's life spared. "Antwon's Law" will make it a requirement that all students who want to play sports receive a thorough physical to include an EKG and chest Xray determine any abnormalities of the heart BEFORE they are allowed to play...especially if they have family history of heart disease.

For substantial periods of the past year our children have been unable to use the center’s outdoor playgrounds, and it appears one of those playgrounds has been permanently lost to us. Despite our protests and insistence that Bright Horizons remedy the situation, we have learned our children will continue to be denied access to both outdoor playgrounds for the foreseeable future. This is unacceptable. One of the main features the center touts is the daily, unencumbered access to outdoor playgrounds, which is integral to the development of our children. Indeed, many of us selected this center precisely because of its outdoor playgrounds. To date, we have not been compensated in any way for this loss, and now you’re proposing to increase tuition for our children based on “enhancements” to the center, despite the loss of this key facility. Given the above, a tuition increase is inappropriate at this time. We trust Bright Horizons will recognize the importance of keeping the tuition at its current level so that we can continue to remain involved in and promote the Bright Horizons community.

My daughter on the first day of school was given to a stranger. The principal is defending the teacher and making my daughter and I look dishonest. I want a better qualified leader for the children in Coney Island.

Many Harding, Madera and Portola students who had Mr. Kenneth Brewer as their teacher did not receive any instruction, direction or teacher led discussions while in class with Mr. Brewer. Many students felt unsafe in a confining and fearful classroom atmosphere, while being subjected to unreasonable yelling and bullying by Mr. Brewer. Parents and Students should not tolerate such substandard academic education or treatment.