This Tuesday, June 11th, the Kansas State Board of Education will be voting on whether to approve the Next Generation Science Standards, an updated and comprehensive set of standards—developed by 26 states including Kansas—that ensures our students will receive a 21st century science education, which includes learning about climate change. Sadly, climate change deniers in the state legislature are already lining up against these new research-based science standards, even as climate impacts like severe drought and floods have already harmed Kansas agriculture and communities. The Kansas Senate passed a bill that would have stopped the science standards from being adopted, and the Kansas House almost did the same. 



 We will never stop pursuing the high quality of science education that our children so desperately need as they prepare for the challenges and opportunities they will face throughout their lives, until it becomes a reality in Kansas schools. Climate change will have a huge impact on our children’s future, and we need to let the State Board of Education know that Kansas parents, grandparents and science supporters want our kids to learn the facts. Action now is critical so that we can ensure that the Board does right by our kids this Tuesday, June 11th. 

If we act today, our children and grandchildren will thank us tomorrow!

 Sincerely,

 Dennis A. Newell, 2013-14 President Kansas Association of Teachers of Science Erin Flory Robertson Mother & Teacher, Wichita

 Lowell Bliss Father of three children in USD 383 (Manhattan-Ogden)

This petition was started due to very serious concerns with the performance of Principal Torres at Beach School. I am a parent of three students at Beach and in Principal Torres' first year I have witnessed significant deterioration in the school morale and serious doubts arise about the schools ability to deliver quality education under her watch. Beach has a strong, diverse community of involved parents and teachers that have created a school environment which is the envy of many other public schools. In her first year Principal Torres has been a poor communicator, a poor planner, a poor collaborator, and largely disengaged from the teachers, students, and parents that make up the school community. It now appears many teachers will leave the school due to her lack of support and leadership.

Public funding for education in Colorado is at the bottom of the country. This lack of funding has caused significant cuts to be made in our education system leading to larger class sizes, diminished teacher pay and a lack of resources. I am a 29 year old elementary school teacher who just made the choice to leave teaching due to constant district cuts, minimal pay and lack of job security. This lack of funding is forcing quality young teachers out of the classroom and into other professions or keeping potential teachers from going into the profession.

I have struggled to get a degree and have spent the last 25 years unable to obtain a job with my degree and the 21K I borrowed has mushroomed to 55K. I soon will be forced into retirement and they will get 15% of my social security. Millions are in my economic trap.

This is a separate and unequal school district with no public oversight. It took Detroit schools and students, leased both from the emergency manager of DPS, and is a "failing district." Only Black students are in it, and its intended expansion also targets only Black districts. The DPS emergency manager loaned this experimental district $12 million from DPS, which is cash-strapped. I am an elected school board member who hears the cries of students and parents in this Jim Crow district. The district lied on its federal loan application. Return the schools to Detroit and end the EAA. It is destroying the potential of Detroit students.

My son attended The School of the Immaculata and was bullied for months. Staff refused to help us. My son became suicidal and had to be hospitalized. We called the police on his bully and my kids were expelled for it. Protecting our children from teachers that refuse to help a victim of bullying is a must.

Learning another language early in life has been demonstrated to increase children’s comprehension of other subjects, critical thinking and their ability to learn additional languages in the future. In the global and diverse economy of the 21st century, acquiring added languages is vital. Surrounding towns have world (foreign) language programs. Other countries learn multiple languages. We need to be competitive. The program at Marlborough Elementary School was recently cut (after 25 years) and we believe it is time to bring it back. **** IMPORTANT NOTE: Please ONLY sign if you are a Marlborough resident. Include your STREET AND ZIP CODE to insure that your signature is counted. ****

In 2001, the Republican governor and legislators took over the School District of Philadelphia, abolishing the elected school board and creating the unelected School Reform Commission (SRC). It is time to restore control of the Philadelphia schools to the taxpayers of Philadelphia. Tell Gov. Corbett and the General Assembly to allow Philadelphians to elect their school board and return control of the schools to the people of Philadelphia. In October, 2014, Tom Corbett's SRC unilaterally, and illegally, ended the District's contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Local parents and students were justifiably outraged. It's time to end this unjust situation and return the control of the Philadelphia Schools to the people of Philadelphia.

It was recently reported that more than 1,967 students under the age of six have been suspended from school - and that's just in the schools that have reported. The trend was extreme in a few charter schools like Achievement First Hartford Academy Elementary School, which reported 114 suspensions last school year out of a total school population of just 430 students. No child that young should be excluded from school. Such a punishment is inappropriate. We should be trying to help young children learn, not excluding them from the classroom. We need to make it clear that this practice is unacceptable and set an example for other schools. Demand that Achievement First Hartford stop suspending students so young!

Student debt and Elizabeth Warren's great idea to lower rates to equal what banks pay, until congress can figure it out....(ya know, because they are so busy protecting the wealthy, corporations and banks)!

me increases in funding not CUTS !!!!!!

Hackathons are a great way to cultivate innovation and inspire younger generations to learn how to code and solve real-world problems.