An Educational program that produces righteous leaders

Please let education be free to ALL Americans to set them up for LIFE needed skills.

Robert Applebaum has started a conversation with his petition to call on Congress to enact Student Debt relief from the millions of us who have burdensome student loan debt. I believe that tuition fees for students that work hard to make it to college, then to be burdened with tuition fee debt later on, are a obstacle to progress and growth in this country.

Forgiving long time student loans

In the state of Minnesota the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are planning another tuition hike because of the lack of state support. Programs and faculty are being cut at a time when citizens need access to affordable public education.

We call upon House Speaker Michael Madigan, Minority Leader Tom Cross, Governor Pat Quinn, and Governor Quinn’s Pension Reform Committee: Senator Noland, Senator Brady, Representative Nekritz, and Representative Senger to hold more public forums to debate the pension issue before ramming damaging legislation through the Illinois General Assembly. Whereas the State of Illinois has failed to fund pension obligations for 40 years for teachers and public employees who are not eligible for Social Security, we also call on the above mentioned leaders to uphold the Illinois Constitution and seek fair and viable pension funding solutions.

Hello, my name is Shay La Price, and I am-was in a two year Medical Assisting Program at the votec. I thought I would be a certified Medical Assistant by next year when I graduated school. Unfortunately three days ago, they told us they no longer wanted to continue our program due to “budget cuts”. If money is an issue, then why did they buy Ipads they no longer let students use anymore, and build an entire café on the bottom of the votec? Too add more fuel to the fire, the only class they are doing this too is the Medical Assisting class because it’s” new”. There are many students who next year thought our program would have already been accredited like they promised and swore up and down they would in 2010-2011, and there are 2nd year students who were supposed to be Certified M.A.’s this year because they promised them that it would get done. No longer can we do this, because once again they lied to them as well, and now two years of their life is wasted. All of us both the 2nd years and 1st just want to finish our program, and know that some of us did not waste one or two years of our education. In the second year class I believe 7 are involved, but not sure. In the first year there are 14 of us. Here is a list of some of the students involved.

If Governor Corbett's proposed budget is approved, Bedford County Public Schools would have lost more than $4,669,000 in funding since 2010! We must make our voice heard in Harrisburg to our legislators that they must make our children the priority and restore funding to our public schools!

The Dekalb County School District, Atlanta, GA, wants to close 11 parents' centers. These centers are located in neighborhoods where parents have been hit hard by the economic crisis. These centers are where kids do homework, borrow books, test prep; this is where kids who have no internet access or computer at home can get access. Each center serves up to 17 different neighborhoods. These centers gives parents a chance to help kids with homework and projects. The state of Georgia plans to build more prisons based on test scores and dropout rates. Please continue to give these parents the opportunity to help their kids with their education.

The concept of having free, instructional videos on a wide range of academic subjects delivered in a systematic and entertaining way is a wonderful idea. Khan Academy is at the head of class. In Salman Khan’s* own words, “With over 3,100 videos on everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and hundreds of skills to practice, we're on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.” This website is a national treasure. Check it out. http://www.khanacademy.org/ With the full resources of the United States government, libraries, and teachers around the country, an American Academy website could have more than a million videos, by a variety of teachers, covering the full range of human knowledge. In order for all American citizens to have the chance to compete in a global economy, start successful businesses, or have meaningful careers in the future, they need to have access to the world’s knowledge in a systematic, accessible, understandable, and entertaining fashion. This website, www.AmericanAcademy.gov**, would help students, teachers, and lifelong learners. Of course, the world will have access to American Academy. I believe that the more people know about the world, the more chances we have to solve the world’s problems. * I have not contacted the folks at Khan Academy, nor am I in any way affiliated with them. ** The name of the website is not important, but the concept is.

In this dismal market economy, I feel that school loans should be forgiven, at least until the economy improves, as it will be even more difficult to get a job if the outstanding loans go on our credit reports.

The Governor is proposing to cut $517 million in funding for child care at the California Department of Education, significantly reducing services to student families who will not qualify for subsidized child care.