On the Thursday, August 1, 2013, 6:00pm KOAT news broadcast, while discussing the incidence and diagnosis of ADD in minority children, Dr. Barry Ramo said that children can be "DOOMED to a life IN special ed. with a limited chance for success..." 1. Special education is a PROGRAM NOT A PLACE!!! Special education services are not a special place, box, or other location from which students cannot escape, as your words presuppose. 2. Special education services are based on individual student needs and are reviewed and revised each year based data collected by highly qualified educators and input from parents and the students themselves. The implication that students who RECEIVE and PARTICIPATE in these services are DOOMED to an UNSUCCESSFUL FUTURE based merely on the fact that they RECEIVE and PARTICIPATE in these services is absolutely ludicrous and borders on professional malpractice.

I am a teacher, a home owner and a taxpayer here in the city of Chicago. I am also a product of the Chicago Public Schools. My parents were educators with this school system. My son attended and graduated with honors from the Chicago Public Schools. I am a stake holder with this school system but, I want to make sure that CPS is truly committed in enhancing the education of your young people instead of helping the rich and powerful. I believe that the citizens of Chicago want and deserve an elected school board instead of a hand pick group that are more beholding to the mayor than to the students, the parents and citizens of our city. The citizens of Chicago want a democratic process as to who will help govern our school board and school system and who will truly listen to the people of our city. Let's end patronage in our school system. Let's Elect Our School Board Members!

Help keep the UO dedicated to its core mission to provide affordable quality education to Oregon's students.

Right now, while some school districts in wealthy areas are giving computers to students, financially stressed ones are getting cut back millions, barely able to keep instructors, and needy courses. We demand a resurrection of this situation. The districts most needy of the money are also the ones where families are the most financially stressed, and can't afford the basics, much less computers, for their children, thus making it much harder for them to get ahead in life, alos becoming notable tax PAYERS, as opposed tolikely tax burdens.

Pennsylvania's public schools are currently funded largely on the basis of local property taxes. This means that richer districts get *much* more funding per student than poorer ones, such as in rural counties or inner cities. The funding formula should be changed so that all property taxes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are collected into a single, statewide pool, and then redistributed to school districts normalised for cost of living (eg: it costs less to educate a child in Perry County than in Pittsburgh). The end result of this will be better-educated children across Pennssylvania, improving the state's economy over the long term.

The Parents and Community stakeholders at 13th Avenue Elementary School in conjunction with the PTA hereby request the Newark Public School District through a demand by the Assistant Superintendent, and/or his designee[s] to rescind the proposed dismantling and removal of the Parent Room.

Schools are the heart of any town. They're what keep neighborhoods strong and bring communities together. Without adequate funding from the state, many of these schools will be shut down, and many teachers will be laid off. Tell Governor Brownback you want this to change by signing this petition.

A local public elementary school I have been volunteering at made the decision to implement school uniforms starting in the upcoming 2013-2014 school year. This is a school with 81% of the students receiving free or reduced-price meals and a diverse student population, including 23% Asian/Pacific Islander, 18% African American, 35% Hispanic, and 16% Caucasian, among other ethnicities.* Making school uniforms mandatory not only takes away students’ independence through restricting free speech, which is a right given to them in the First Amendment, but it increases costs to families who cannot afford to have more expenses. Those who support school uniforms say there are many benefits in doing so, including improved behavior and academic success. However, a study done by David L. Brunsma and Kerry A. Rockquemore shows “student uniforms have no direct effect on substance use, behavioral problems, or attendance” and “the authors found a negative effect of uniforms on student academic achievement.”** With the lack of evidence regarding advantages to having school uniforms and the seemingly obvious disadvantages, I propose we protect the rights of our students and remove the ability of our public schools to require uniforms. *2011-12 School Performance Report, Highline School District. **Brunsma, D. L., & Rockquemore, K. A. (1998). Effects of student uniforms on attendance, behavior problems, substance use, and academic achievement. Journal Of Educational Research, 92(1), 53.

90% of a child's brain development occurs in the first 5 years of life. California has the opportunity to allow early educators to organize a give them a stronger voice to advocate for policy changes that will improve the quality of state supported early education and child care programs.

On July 24th, the Democratic-led Senate voted for a bad deal that would send student loan interest rates into the stratosphere. Under this deal, student loan interest rates would climb as high as 8.25% for undergrads, while graduate students could pay rates as high as 9.5% and parents taking out PLUS loans could pay up to 10.5%. Worse still, Democrats may cave to Republican House-passed legislation that ties loans to "market rates." With California leading the nation in tuition increases (a 300% rise in costs over the last decade), our incoming new University of California President must fight to get a better deal for California's students. Tell Napolitano to speak out for progressive student loan reform that keeps college affordable and to urge her former boss, the President, to veto any bill that doesn't meet these guidelines.

This spring Christie-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson pushed through a school budget that cut $56 million from Newark schools, slashing funding for some schools by as much as 15%. Nearly 1,000 Newark students walked out of class in protest. The Newark Board of Education gave her a vote of no confidence and the City Council unanimously called for a moratorium on any more of her ‘reforms.’ But like the CEO of a bailed out bank, Anderson is somehow still up for as much as a $50,000 bonus. Giving Anderson a massive bonus while Newark schools bleed is cronyism at its very worst, and it's an insult to New Jersey students, educators, and taxpayers.

On average, New Jersey’s 2,500 school buildings are 50 years old and are four times more densely populated than office buildings. Age, overcrowding, and deferred maintenance strain ventilation, heating, and electrical systems, which, in many cases, result in dangerous conditions that threaten the health of students and staff and impede students’ learning. Everyday, students in New Jersey are exposed to hazardous conditions like mold, lead, PCBs, and poor indoor air quality resulting from decades of delayed repairs and the failure to start and complete new school construction projects. On May 24, 2011, the New Jersey Department of Education, together with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, requested that each SDA district (formerly known as Abbott Districts) identify and describe any potential emergent conditions that may exist in the district’s school facilities. The DOE regulations 2 define an emergent condition as “so injurious or hazardous that it causes an imminent peril to the health and safety of students and staff.” In response, school districts submitted more than 700 applications for emergent projects to be reviewed by the DOE on an “expedited basis” as required by the regulations. In the spring of 2012, a mere seventy-six of the applications were approved. Now, over a year later, the SDA has completed only a few of these projects and has not committed to complete the remaining projects by the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. This is unacceptable. Allowing repairs to wait for over two years unnecessarily exposes students and staff to unsafe and unhealthy conditions. We request that you ensure all approved emergent projects be completed by this September -- before our children and staff return to school. Communities across the state remain in desperate need of functioning, modern, and safe school facilities. Every day our students and those entrusted to teach and care for them, enter buildings that are unhealthy and unsafe. If we expect to have thriving schools and effective learning environments, these emergent repairs must be addressed. Every child has a right to receive a quality education and the facilities in which these students receive their education should be of high quality, and sound structure.