This is a petition to bring art, music and gym programs back into the elementary level. If your school system has done away with these programs, it would be in the childrens' best interest if you sign this online petition.

In 1995 the state of New Jersey took control of the Newark Public Schools District. Since this takeover the Newark Public Schools District has seen a continuous decline in achievement among its students. In recent years we have seen an abuse of power by state officials in addition to arbitrary school closings, and the privatization of public school education.

It is important that the VVC community demonstrates that we fully support Victor Valley College's vision, values, mission, and goals and pledge our commitment to meet and/or exceed he recommendations set forth by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

Tell NYU's administration to abandon their multi-billion-dollar expansion plan to build more high-cost dorms, parking lots, and retail space, and tell them to focus on academic excellence. Thirty-seven of NYU's own departments have voted against the plan, yet President Sexton has not responded to his own faculty members. He has not provided any evidence that NYU can afford this plan. Make your voice heard, no matter who you are: you may be a New York City or Greenwich Village resident, NYU staff or alum, or you care about overdevelopment and the future of higher education. Don't allow university executives to build unnecessary high-rises by raising tuition and transforming the Village! This petition is organized by NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan. As teachers and researchers at NYU, we put education first, not real estate ventures. You can find out more about us at http://nyufasp.com/.

I think everyone has been personally affected by this issue. All teenagers coming out of high school should have a basic understanding of personal finance, including credit cards, credit scores, interest rates, loans, saving for retirement, 401K's and basic saving strategies. They should also be given specific examples of strategies for success and, conversely, what not to do. It is all too easy for young kids to make mistakes that take them years, sometimes decades from which to recover, and it is imperative that we arm them with the knowledge to make the best decisions possible in their early lives, especially in regard to their finances.

On Sunday, the Chicago Teachers Union announced the first Chicago teacher's strike in almost 25 years. They are fighting against school privatization, closures, and stagnant wages. Ninety-eight of our Chicago schools don't have playgrounds, and 160 schools don't have libraries at all. Forty percent of our schools do not have full time art and music programs, and the entire system is desperately lacking support staff, including counselors and school nurses. The lack of investment in schools is bad for teachers—but it's devastating for our children. As the parent of two children in the Chicago Public Schools, I stand with the Chicago public school teachers.

My school system has lost all fine arts programs for elementary schools and teachers have had several furlough days while the football program and coaches have sacrificed nothing. Enough is enough. The title is "Student- Athlete". Student comes first!

Student loans are owned by the United States government and should be free of interest. Now that this form of debt has topped $1,000,000,000 (Trillion) it hardly seems like a good way to reward those who seek the education required to compete in today's global markets. Students and their families are profoundly affected by this debt and it is affecting the futures of our youth and their families by saddling them with untenable debt before they even get out of the starting gate. With no interest these debts will vanish earlier and put these dollars to work on building families. This should be done immediately and retroactively.

Every political race claims that public education needs improving.but they have no idea how to "fix" something teachers and students have not broken. There is always need for improvement, (districts are always providing trainings), but more testing kids, phony teacher evaluations, and private-for-profit vouchers are NOT the way to do it. There is growing recognition, especially in Florida, that schools are being made to "fail" so private-for-profit companies can provide alternatives. Taking education out of the hands of educators is wrong for the sake of students, teachers, and the future of U.S. citizens.

10% of the grand sum of all campaign spending should go to a special citizen fund for educational scholarships or infrastructure repair.

On Tuesday night, Rahm Emanuel, the Mayor of Chicago, is scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. This is a slap in the face to the thousands of Chicago public school teachers currently fighting for a fair contract in the face of an aggressive pro-corporate "reform" agenda pushed by Emanuel and his administration.

We teach sex ed in schools, and we teach our kids how to protect themselves against pregnancy and disease, but we don't teach how to protect themselves against violence. We say the purpose of sex ed is to teach protection, but we don't teach them all the ways they need to be protected.