Over two-thirds of the instructors at universities and colleges make less than thirty thousand dollars a year, have no health insurance, no retirement, and no job security. As we enter a new academic year please consider that while tuition has grown out of control little of this money goes towards the salary of instructors. Please stand with us by making this a topic of discussion in the upcoming election.

My student loans were consolidated. I applied for loan forgiveness and was denied. I worked (as a teacher) in low functioning or performing schools . While other teachers loans were forgiven. I have been paying back Sallie Mae Loan Services since 1991 and still owes about $25,000.00. Unfair!!!!!

Parent Plus Loans cannot be forgiven or even have the interest lowered unless the parent dies or goes on permanent disability. Peoples circumstances change especially in this economy and I think there should be more affordable options for these loans. I am on Social Security Disability and have been for 12 years but not permanent and only make $1,250 a month and yet have a $400.00 payment and NO ONE will budge.

Thank you for signing this petition. This is a message for all our political advocates in the US Senate, US House of Representatives and also to our President that we can't sit back any longer on our kids safety issues around Railroads. We need an education program put in our Education Systems that will teach our kids what to do and what not to do around Railroad Property.

With budget cuts to mental health care services, schools have begun the practice of pressing charges against special needs children for behavior directly related to their disabilities instead of offering required services and following educational federal mandates to practice a manifestation determination. My 11 year old son now has a criminal record for the school's derelict actions in responding to his specific disability. This is the second school to respond to my son's disabilities, not by offering appropriate services, but by criminalizing him and pressing charges for non-injury incidents. Bullying triggered my son's disability and his inappropriate responses were his reactions to provocations. None of my son's actions resulted in anyone needing a band-aid nor even a trip to see a school nurse(or any medical attention). Stop adjudicating special needs children for actions directly relating to their disabilities. Fund mental health care services, now.

GOP leadership put Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) on the House Science Committee. This is the guy who says women can't get pregnant from "legitimate rape"(?) He's also said the federal government should not subsidize school lunches for poor children. What a great spokesman for GOP social Darwinism, as well as scientific ignorance.

College graduates today are facing unbearable high levels of student loan debt. Spread over 10 to 30 years of payments, these loans are preventing young college graduates from being able to afford to purchase a home. The current system is killing the American dream of home ownership. By making all federally funded student loan repayments pre-tax, more young families will be able to experience the satisfaction of home ownership. Future generations are now less likely to attend college due to fear of unemployment and unimaginable student loan debt. Don't let the United States become the land of broke, uneducated, and homeless.

I think that teachers everywhere should be educated about Autism Spectrum Disorder. I have ASD,and all of my teachers have never understood my Austism. They punish me for things like crying in class,not paying attention,standing up for what I believe in,not finishing homework,correcting them when they teach,and being disorganized. These are all symptoms of my ASD,but they don't seem to understand that. Me and my mother are organizing a walk-a-thon to raise money to hire an educator for the teachers of my school district,but I think that ALL teachers should have to be educated about the main mental disorders before being hired. It's becoming a serious problem,not just in my town,but everywhere. I know there's a chance I'll get in trouble at school if this rule is passed,but it's worth it if I can make things right. Please sign this petition to end the misunderstanding between Autistic kids and their teachers.

As Texas students, we petition the Texas Legislature to end the STAAR Tests and other high stakes tests immediately. Our position on STAAR testing is that it is atrocious. It’s not right to take the hopes and dreams of graduating high school away from us. The STAAR test will cause students to drop out of high school who can’t pass the tests. If the law is going to say that a freshman who failed STAAR will not graduate then why should WE try to do our best in the next 3 years? The 9th grade should be a year that orients us to the high school curriculum, not a year that forces us into a make-or-break test that could end our educational path before it begins. This is a very unhealthy atmosphere that the laws are bringing into our schools and homes. Teachers, parents, families, and students are put under enormous stress and pressure. It is not fair to measure our intelligence by administering a test given to a 9th grader. There are so many levels of intelligence and learning that develop after the age of 14. The tests don’t help students improve by identifying their weaknesses Testing and preparing for tests waste weeks of time when we should be learning from our teachers The tests aren’t educational, and they don’t prepare US for college WE want our teachers to test us on what we’ve learned.

Music participation and afford-ability for kids.

Music participation and afford-ability for kids

Background: Currently, Kentucky has linked its high school state education curriculum to National Education Standards. KY worked with the ACT program to develop state standards. Now, some Republican legislators are upset that the biology section includes evolution but not creationism. They think "Darwin made it up," and that evolution is "only a theory." I, the writer of the above petition, am a resident of KY and an evolutionary ecologist, and know very well how important the understanding of evolutionary theory is to understanding biology. The students of KY deserve the best education, not pseudoscience and religion in the science classroom.