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.

The New Hope Solebury School Board is currently considering closing the Lower Elementary School, moving these students to the Upper Elementary School, and possibly moving fifth grade students to the Middle School. Although there are currently empty classrooms at both elementary schools, there is not enough space to easily accommodate all students at the main campus without significant changes at the Upper Elementary School and Middle School. We need to ensure that the School Board is doing a complete analysis to determine what is best for our young children, and not making drastic changes for small financial gain. Parents and community members should be involved in this process to understand the rationale for these significant changes.

Public schools are in shambles across America. The only way we can fix it is by making our elected leaders experience what we go through as parents of public school students. To make them accountable, all elected officials must be required to send their children to public schools in their area as a part of their pledge to serve the community they get elected to represent.