Over half of all colleges and universities use adjunct professors to teach America's students. These teachers make very little money, many work full time and most work one or two other jobs in order to continue teaching. I work full time at a community college teaching sociology and make $14,400 a year. I have to work nights and week-ends at other jobs to continue to teach. At my college, our Spanish teacher, with a PhD, works nights and weekends as a bartender. We are not considered teachers but contract workers; our "offiices" are cubicles in the library. Why would our students ever want to be teachers?

Common Core initiatives and high-stakes standardized testing are about control and not quality education. Students' academic success should not be tied to a test score to determine their ability to learn, and teachers' pedagogy should not be tied to a test score to determine their ability to teach: Education (and the process of obtaining it) is much more than a single grade.

Retirees on a fixed income cannot afford to pay their remaining student loans. Those who reach full retirement age should not be burdened with paying back student loans.

When my child attended university took out Parent Plus Loan. I am now 70yrs old and I am still paying $500.00 / Month. When I quit working I will have no way to continue the payments. I will then be getting collection calls until I pass away. I also work for Civil Service for the past 30 + years and am a disabled Vet. Is there anyway that I can get relief on this loan?

About the loss of k-12 funding in this state

The Michigan Legislature with its Emergency Manager Mandate, is in the process of turning our public school system into a privately owned education system, kind of like our current Health Care System. It sounds good at first, but the reality, if we give in to this now, is that soon we will have no say on who is teaching our children or what they are learning. Our taxes are already being diverted to these (some out-of-state) "schools". We have no jurisdiction over a corporation. There has already been talk of doing away with actual school buildings and making the curriculum entirely online. Sign this petition to Governor Rick Snyder telling him we want our taxes to stay with our PUBLIC SCHOOLS. We want to keep our school boards and teachers. We welcome free enterprise corporate controlled schools, but not with our tax dollars, and not as a Government mandate.

Our local Maine neighbor's are urging their state legislature to increase school funding. State aid accounts for nearly half of K-12 education funding, yet Maine has reduced that funding by $468 per student since 2008. Please sign our petition to make our local government understand that we wont take this injustice.

My two sons attend Lowel Elementary School, and I'm concerned that Lowel is about to lose 10 teachers, our only librarian, and all financial support for popular activities. And stop the terrible funding cuts to Lowel School.

Michigan K-12 Schools depend on state funding for 50% of their yearly budgets.Yet, that funding has been cut by more than $500 per student since 2008 while expenses continue to increase. Please sign the petition demanding an increase in school funding for our children.

The Idaho State Legislature continues to cut education funds. Our schools need this funding for a number of things to give them the best education possible. Our children should be our first priority!

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. As the teachers are out striking the parents are not we will stand with our children at home studying for hours every day till this nightmare ends and our kids are back in class.

It is time to end inequity in Public Schools. Any child should be allowed to enroll in any public school they have transportation options to and from, regardless of school district, county or state lines.