Parents and community members in Manhattan's School District 6 are asking the CEC and DOE to table the issue of "school choice" currently under consideration. CEC6 and the DOE have not provided any evidence that dezoning has benefited other school districts or that it achieves its stated purposes or that it would benefit our children or ensure that everyone has access to good schools. For more information: www.savedistrict6.com or www.facebook.com/d6parents

I am a mom of two elementary school-age children. I am also a special education teacher. In August of 2012, the North Carolina State Board of Education approved a motion to make mCLASS: Reading 3D the statewide reading assessment for grades K-3 beginning with the 2013-14 school year. The assessment is a web-based system; teachers use hand-held mobile devices to input student data, and each student’s detailed response data is uploaded to the mCLASS website. The system allows mCLASS to provide “historical profiles and reports of each student and classroom via the web,” (www.wirelessgeneration.com). mCLASS is owned and distributed by Wireless Generation, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation--the company that has been embroiled in scandal over its illegal and unethical methods of gathering and using confidential information, such as hacking into the phones of politicians, celebrities and murder victims. No parental consent will be required for mCLASS to collect and store our children’s information. New York state entered a $27 million no-bid contract with Wireless Generation after the company hired several of the state's top executives. Amid News Corporation’s phone hacking scandals, the contract was dropped over concerns about how the company would protect students’ privacy. Now North Carolina has entered into a contract with Wireless Generation. What will we get for our millions of dollars? What will we get from a partnership with a company headed by a man who views public education as a “monopoly” that should be “blown up” to make room for a competitive market in education? Rupert Murdoch believes in dismantling public education, replacing it with market forces and privatization. His for-profit company is entering contracts in multiple states to mine student performance "data" that can be compared to a standard set high enough to “prove” that public schools are “failing.” I don’t want my children’s assessment data to be in the hands of Wireless Generation, but my consent is not required. All I can do is ask the North Carolina Board of Education to follow the example set by New York and drop this contract.

Students that have graduated but can't get in their career should not have to pay back their student loans right away. It should be until they are in their careers, so that they have the money. I have been affected by fed loans and am unable to pay them because I work at a low wage job; nothing is open to work in my field that I got my degree in. I believe that us students should be forgiven until we make the money that we went to school for.

I am a charter school teacher. I have seen first-hand the need for greater amounts of funding for public education.

Budgets have been cut and new policies have been put into place that will no longer allow subsidized daycare payments for children over the age of eight, efective January 2013 additional cuts will effect 300 seven year olds. I am a childcare center owner that is very active in the community. Young mothers that are working hard to overcome their low economic situations are now faced with the dilemma as to how they are going to maintain employment without the assistance with childcare. I am losing ALL of my afterschool children because they are over the age of 8 and after January 2013, I will face more lost because the county will stop paying benefits for 300 additonal 7 year olds.

I'm a charter school teacher in the Bay Area, and know first-hand how under-funded our public school system is. The governor will be issuing his proposed 2013 state budget in January; now's the perfect time to put education funding on his radar.

The costs of college tuition have been increasing each year and many lower class Americans have been hindered in their journey to higher education. How are Americans, that are already working full-time to afford high living expenses, expected to pay exorbitant rates for education meant to help or better themselves? HIgher education is important and should be affordable to all levels of Americans wanting to increase their knowledge and situation.

Florida’s Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program allows companies to redirect a portion of their tax liabilities to fund scholarships for low-income students and only means that the rest of us, the taxpaying citizens of Florida must pick up the tab. The Program is designed to divert funds that would otherwise go to public schools and use those funds to create scholarships, sending children and millions of dollars to private, largely religious schools. These schools generally have little oversight and are responsible to no one.

I have relatives that are currently attending Chicago Public Schools which are grossly underfunded in some areas should be treated with the same urgency as Charter Schools because public money from the Lottery is available but not used for something as important as educating children and hiring more teachers

Arts education is important in K-12, schools, yet it is always the first thing to be cut. Arts education is a top priority that helps kids express themselves, spark creative thinking, aid problem solving skills, and so much more. The proportion of 18-year-olds who had arts education as children has declined with each wave of SPPA, reaching a low of less than half in the most recent survey. 93% agree the arts are vital to providing a well rounded education for children. 86% agree an arts education encourages and assists in the improvement of a child's attitudes toward school. 83% believes that arts education helps teach children to communicate effectively with adults and peers. 79% agree incorporation the arts into education is a first step in adding back what's missing in public education today. 54% rated the importance of arts education a "ten" on a scale of one to ten. nea.gov/research/2008-SPPA-ArtsLearning.pdf www.nasaa-arts.org/Publications/critical-evidence.pdf

Improving Education

The Archdiocese of New York plans on shutting 27 Archdiocesan Schools. The selling of just one painting that the Catholic Church owns would save our schools. Closing the schools will impact 5,000 students who for the most part are nonwhite and below the poverty level.