Certifying someone as a “highly qualified” teacher when they have little training and have not been certified is like saying someone is a doctor just because they own a stethoscope. That'd be ridiculous and dangerous — so why would Congress do that to our teachers and most importantly to our nation’s children? Congress will soon vote on a budget bill that will likely include a harmful education amendment. The “Highly Qualified Teachers Amendment” would permanently allow teachers-in-training to be labeled as “highly qualified! Calling teachers ‘highly qualified’ is supposed to mean that teachers are trained and certified, which protects kids from a constant stream of unprepared, uncertified teachers. Federal law is supposed to give parents and caregivers information about the preparation and credentials of the teachers in their children’s schools. It is also supposed to address the problem that low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and rural students are being disproportionately taught by less-prepared and less effective teachers, including many uncertified intern teachers. Contact your legislators today and tell them every child deserves to have a fully-prepared teacher on day one in the classroom. Now, special interests are lobbying – they don’t want you to know that some programs are sending teachers with little to no training or experience into the classroom. We have the right to know how prepared people are for the job. Take action now to support a fully-trained teacher for every child! Thank you for standing up today for our students!

State lawmakers are returning to Harrisburg for the Fall 2013 sessions, as our public schools face unprecedented cuts to educational programs and increases in class sizes. Our state legislature has failed to provide the “thorough and efficient system of public education” mandated by the Pennsylvania Constitution. We must stand together now to demand that our legislature take action: we need sufficient state funding for our public schools and this funding must be allocated in a rational and fair way so that every student in Pennsylvania has an opportunity to learn. The legislature must immediately act to adopt a fair, accurate, and transparent funding formula and provide the resources to fund it.

Disabled Students in Higher Education is a student group that educates and advocates for Disabled Students in College. UMKC does not support our group the way it supports other groups. DSHE needs funding to help disabled students return to college, get tutoring, or simply be able to send a letter to Vocational Rehabilitation. Please help by signing this petition.

I a High School Senior who sees the fast moving rate of High School Pregnancies which often leads to High School Dropouts. I come to realize that schools that offer Sexual Education courses have lower pregnancy and dropout rates. I am on my way towards progression on starting Sexual Education courses in not just my school, but all High Schools. This is a chance to give those who don't know the first thing about sex a piece of mind and how to be protected, or those with parents who failed to teach them about it one as well. With a positive spread of kind words and motivation our voices can be heard, so where do you stand; now or never?

My daughter is an incoming freshman to UCSB and has been recruited by Cathy Neushul and Connor Levoff to play women's water polo. These are well-established and well-respected coaches from the Santa Barbara area. They have been coaching high school and younger for years and hold many national girls' water polo titles. They were abruptly, and I believe unfairly, kicked out of their coaching positions with only two weeks before the start of the school year. Please support them in signing this petition to get them reinstated as head coaches for UCSB Women's Water Polo. Please encourage everyone that knows and loves water polo to forward this petition and let our voices be heard.

Our community is proud of our children and our school. Why should we bus our children 3 miles to another school? Why should our children spend 45 minutes on a bus when most of us walk or can drop them off quickly? What about our children's feeling of security knowing they will be at one school for grades K-5. Our children love their school and teachers and would be upset that they have to be apart from their siblings. Many of us moved into this District because Waterbury is K-5. Let's keep our community, families and school together at Waterbury!

My children come home extremely hungry from school every day with the change in the school meals. Along with the school menu changes, our principal is no longer along children to bring in snacks. If they bring in snacks or drinks they will be confiscated. (All snack machines on campus are off limits and on timers during school hours.) I wanted to see this changed to allow them to bring in healthy snacks to have in between classes, or during breaks in classes.

Why am I doing this? Because I have friends that teach, because I want to teach, because to change careers and teach means I have to be paid less than half of what I would make as a skilled laborer WITHOUT a Masters in Education, or even a degree. THAT isn't right, and it isn't fair.

Nā Pua No‘eau has been successful in developing a model of working with students through community issues and topics. It utilizes its research on optimizing learning of Hawaiian students in the context of leadership, raising aspirations and higher achievement. It has successfully integrated university resources (faculty and facilities) to bridge a greater appreciation of higher learning and education as a vehicle for community development. The result is that the students believe higher education is a viable way to improve the conditions of their family and their community. This momentum needs to be sustained. It needs to have continuous presence and opportunities for those from under-served communities, especially Hawaiians. There are also many more students and communities that need to access these opportunities.

OHA has begun defunding Native Hawaiian health and education programs, while continuing to provide millions of beneficiary funds for Kana‘iolowalu. Despite millions spent on advertising and outreach, less than 4% of Native Hawaiians have voluntarily signed up for the Roll. Sign this petition to send a clear message to the Trustees that our top priorities are education and health.

Weil wir uns den Gebührenwahnsinn nicht mehr gefallen lassen!

Our educational system needs updated age-appropriate disease prevention messages to stop the spread on diseases and misinformation from our educational systems.