We are not asking for a free education, but rather help with student loans that are crippling the American economy. Many Americans have lost their good paying jobs and forced to take jobs just to make ends meet, with no extra money to pay off the student loans. Lives and families are being ruined by student loans, people are becoming homeless, many have been harrassed so bad that they have commited suicide. I left a job that I had worked at for 12 years making $35.000 a year, I attended a school, you would call a 'diploma mill'. I graduated with $69,000 in student loan debt. Both Federal and Private Student loans. The school had jobs offers extended to me from cmpanies that were offering $8/hr, these jobs needed no degree, just a high school diploma. I later became 100% disabled, the loans went into default. The Federal loans can be medically discharged...maybe. The private loans cannot. Sallie Mae and its affiliates harrass you to no end and use unethical and abusive methods to collect money...any money that they can. I had a call just last week. I told them that I had $50 left and I needed groceries, reply, "I will take that $50 and apply it to your account." No mention of the fact that my and my family would go hungry. I close with this. I now have over $100,000 dollars in Student Loans. I am ruined, all because I wanted a better future for me and my family. My story is just one of millions out there whose lives and families are ruined thanks to student loans. Lets work together. IMPORTANT: In close, the fees, high interest and the fact that we could not meet the demands that Sallie Mae and any other institutes that service student loans have tacked on mountains of extra debt that compounds the problem, this is reported to your credit report for the rest of your life and beyond. Many of us in this economy, because of the lack of good paying jobs will never make enough money to satisfy these debts. Do you have a story to tell? Contact me at [email protected].

My son and his wife owe $340,000 in student loans! They are both employed as optometrists. They are currently repaying their student loans through the IBR plan. Their payments are managable under this plan, but their fear is the exorbitant tax they will have to pay when the loan is forgiven in 25 years. It may be up to $70,000. Currently the debt forgiven through PSLF is not considered taxable. We would like to give this privilege to borrowers who qualify for loan forgiveness through IBR (and Income Contingent Repayment) get the same treatment. After 300 payments, they should not be taxed!!!! It will likely be totally unaffordable.

My Cousin goes to Herbert Hoover Elementary School and I am concerned with the fact that he has been being severely bullied for the past month or so and the school refuses to do anything about it. They want him, the victim, to switch schools, or miss recess. The last time I checked the children doing the bullying are the ones who should be punished. They finally listened after he told them that he would kill himself. Even then all they did was call the crisis center. The bullies have not been spoken to. We believe that the schools actions are bullying in and of themselves. They told this 11 year old that his bullies would never find out if he would just tell the principal, all of this was witnessed by his aunt. When she left him at the school for the day the principal called both my cousin and the three bullies into his office and he called my cousin a liar because he wasn't brave enough to accuse the other children to their faces. They have him scared enough that he is having panic attacks and freaking out at the thought of going to school. Mr. Rodriquez stated to one of my family members that "He didn't know any other way to handle the situation." Even the superintendent told my cousins father there was nothing they could do. The policy from the Parent/Student handbook for Herbert Hoover is as follows: "BULLYING/CYBERBULLYING Effective April 23, 2008, the Neshaminy board of School Directors approved Policy 553 – Bullying/Cyberbullying. All forms of bullying and cyberbullying by District students are hereby prohibited. Anyone who engages in bullying or cyberbullying in violation of this policy shall be subject to appropriate discipline. This policy is in effect while student are on property within the jurisdiction of the District; while on school-owned and/or operated vehicles; while attending or engaged in school-sponsored activities; and while away from school grounds if the misconduct directly affects the health and safety of students and staff as well as the good order, efficient management and welfare of the District. Any student who retaliates against another student for reporting bullying or extortion or for assisting or testifying in the investigation or hearing may be subject to disciplinary action. Please refer to Policy 553 – Bullying/Cyberbullying for more detailed information." So many children and teens take their lives because they just can't take anymore. It is hard being different, it is hard to hear that you are fat, ugly, stupid, all day. And as we get older the insults get harsher. You medicate children instead of working on their problems. If he is jumping around too much he has ADHD, give him a pill. If he is having panic attacks, it's just anxiety, give him a pill. Pay attention people. How shallow do we have to be, how many lives do we have to lose, to see that bullying is an epidemic in the US and other countries as well. If we can put a stop to it now think of how many lives we can save.

My two children attend one of the best charter schools in California. The school recently delivered a 974 API, the second highest test score in the state. The Oakland School Board has begun the process of closing the school because it did not respond fast enough to a request for corrections after an audit. The school began work on the corrections and asked the School Board for an additional 30 days to finish the corrections. The school board said "no" to the request and instead initiated the school closure process. This decision will impact 1,200 families in Oakland. It will also deprive Oakland of 1,200 of the brightest students in the entire state of California, as measured by testing. Watch this 2 minute video made by the students, to see what's so special about this school: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMSHCht4qb4 note: You might have to cut and paste the link into your browser.

There are many people affected by huge student loan payments. Lowering the APR of the student loans would help alleviate the burden of repayment.

The country (taxpayers) has bailed out Wall Street and the auto industry, how about our the common folks who owe many thousands of dollars in student loans? This would be a stimulus from the bottom up and take a great burden off millions of families.

As with many other students, I am having a difficult time paying my student loans. With the every increasing prices of just about everything, it has been hard to make ends meet. I am asking for politicians to create legislation which allows working people the opportunity to have pre-taxed income deducted from their paychecks and for the funds to be applied directly to Federal Student Loan balances. I am not asking them for a "bailout", just an opportunity for me to pay them down with the money that I am earning. I know pre-taxed contributions are removed for FLEX spending plans and retirement funds. I would like to request that students may take up to 12,000 a year in pre-taxed money that is electronically sent to the Federal Student Loans Department. This is a solution that will help lower student loan defaults and allow working citizens to survive financially.

As an educator myself, I have spoken to countless teachers who feel they spend more time assessing their students than teaching them since NCLB went into effect. Children report feeling stressed out by 'the big test'. Research has not shown substantial gains in schools since NCLB was instated. Why keep torturing children and teachers? We know that smaller schools produce better learning. Research has shown this for years. Why not invest our money in creating smaller schools instead.

There are millions of deaf and hard of hearing people in the USA, who are unable to understand your videos because they are not close-captioned. Or, if they are, the close-captioning does not make any sense!

I go to Lady Bird Johnson Middle School where the passing periods are three minutes long. Passing periods are too short, every year they become more shorter. Teachers expect us to go to the restroom during passing periods but that dosnt really gives us enough time. What if our class is on the other side of the school? and its an emergency to use the restroom? We need to change our passing periods.

Schools in our district have been laying off teachers every year, and cutting services for students steadily, from class size increase to eliminating important educational programs, and now furlough days for schools. Yet, they spend millions on purchasing new curriculum material and staff training associated with these new purchases. How is that justified?

Stop states from implementing race based education policies on children. Florida Board of Education approved a 5 year strategic plan to discriminate against minorities.