Missouri Politians want to take tenure from teachers and have them to be at will workers. Educators should be concern about a career choice that should not be politically power by elective officials. If any concerns it should be more funding for schools and teachers. There is a SENATE Bill requesting the termination of teacher tenure in this state. As an educator for 20 plus years, I advocate for teachers who will follow and deserve the few benefits of becoming a teacher. In urban areas teacher consistence in the classroom is a must.

Our present education system is very outdated compared to most first-world countries. We have simply fallen behind. We need a fresh start.

All the children included my two sons attend Lowell Elementary School, funding for activities like chess club, music, etc. Our children's education should be our top priority, and these cuts should be stopped.

The cost of textbooks is exorbitant. Recently my stepson was told he needed to pay over $200 for an elementary algebra textbook at a community college. This is more than the cost of the course itself. I support a nationwide effort to lower textbook costs modeled on California's SB 1052 and SB 1053. For details see http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/09/free-digital-textbooks-to-be-made-available-after-gov-jerry-brown-signs-bills.html

This information was brought to me by Fox News. Why should we be paying teachers for not teaching our children.

As a Teacher and Parent of children in public schools, I have watched class sizes steadily increase while the quality of education declines. Quite frankly, we should be embarrassed by the state of our schools. You were elected for a reason. It's time to fix our broken school system with permanent, stable funding. Please act now!

I have personally been effected by student loans I cannot afford to pay back. The interest just keeps mounting up and there seems to be no way out. I got my BS degree thinking I would be making a good salary when I finished college, but was suprised to see the jobs I qualified for only paid a little more than mimimum wage. I wish I would never went to college and kept the job I had for 10 years.

I have had personal experience with the issue of the expense of higher education. My children have had college loans that seem never ending and they are soon going to have their own children with theses problems.

There are currently two bills in front of Michigan lawmakers, HB 4072, SB 133 that will circumvent/ eliminate the state requirement for one year fine arts credit for high school gradiation. This will be devastating to the performing, visual and practical arts curriculum for all Michigan's students, especially in struggling districts, where creative thinking skills and education are most needed.

Student loan debt continues to grow at a steady rate while middle income salaries have flat-lined for 30 years and the ideals of earning a degree to contribute to society both financially and socially are dwindling. Citizens want to continue their pursuit of their American Dream and they are willing to try anything to reel in their debt and start building capital, including playing lottery games like Powerball. We have learned quickly that few win in Powerball, and their winnings don't make much of a difference to the rest of us playing. I request that we consider a nationwide Student Loan Lottery game. Players (both with debt or without) could purchase tickets either online or at convenience stores. Jackpots could be used to pay student loan debt incurred to that date, if short, remaining debt would remain, if some funds remained following payoff - they could be added to the future jackpot. In essence, we could pay off each others student loan debts and truly make a difference.

Public policy should be based upon evidence.

Public schools have been decimated over the past few years and, when you increase funding, this funding is going towards testing, teacher evaluation systems, new programs, etc... instead of going for the students. This money should be going towards bringing back teaching assistants, bringing class sizes back down to previous levels, and bringing back social workers and psychologists to work with students who desperately need their services. If an individual claims to be a "lobbyist for the children", then they must do what is best for the children.