Schools shouldn’t be on the frontlines of this pandemic. All school staff need the ability to stay at home to recover or take care of their own families without losing their livelihoods. Educators shouldn’t be asked to risk their lives reporting to work everyday; but many will be left totally exposed, unless ALL staff and parents have access to paid leave. We all need the peace of mind knowing that nobody is coming to school sick because teachers, staff, and parents can’t afford to stay home. Guaranteeing paid leave gives working people the ability to protect themselves AND keep their children home for caregiving should someone in their family become ill with the coronavirus. If and when schools start to reopen, parents, teachers, and school staff must be able to stay home if they’re sick or need to care for a family member. Join us in telling the Senate "don’t reopen school without making sure EVERYONE has access to paid family and medical leave."

Educators are on the front lines and need proper ppe, and should be able to buy what they need on amazon to protect themselves. This includes all first responder mask options.

We seek to outright condemn racism and bigotry in our "bubble" and town and to invite those in fear of the looming atmosphere of white supremacy to take refuge in our safe haven.

We as student teachers are not getting the real experience that we have prepared for, for the past four years of our college careers. It would be wrong to make these student teachers finish EdTPA when a lot of them won't see their student's faces at all this semester. Student teachers' degree depends on EdTPA but, it is unfair for them to complete the requirements without getting the full experience of being a student-teacher.

because trump is a racist, sexist, homophobe , transphobe , rapist and hes an ignorant piece of shit.

There is an urgent bill at the CA legislature that will allow flexibility in the clinical hours & lecture concurrency in the face of Covid-19​. AB 2288 would: • allow approved requests to last until the end of the approved academic term (semester/quarter, etc.) so that students do not lose any alternate clinical placements • maintain the current 50% direct patient care hours and might allow up to 75% in some circumstances • allow schools to teach theory and clinical non-concurrently up to one academic term to accommodate students who received an incomplete last term or students who may receive an incomplete but otherwise completed theory even if they lost their clinical placement. These are incredible provisions and, if passed, we would no longer be at the mercy of the BRN to act swiftly and appropriately in the face of further complications in our education due to Covid-19. It is critical we band together to urge the CA legislature to support AB 2288. How to take action: - Sign this petition & share it on social media! - Read & follow AB 2288

It is important because of the current Covid crisis because families are having to keep children at home and do school online and because monopolies and collusion between corporations that compete with each other is illegal and destroys the very foundation of a free market.

To acknowledge and support nurses who are at the frontline risking their lives daily.

Congressman John Robert Lewis was an American Hero and one of our Forefather's of Civil Rights. From his early activism as one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, his speech at the March on Washington, his march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama on Bloody Sunday March 7, 1966, to his 33 years in Congress Congressman Lewis spent his life's work for diversity, inclusion, and equality for all. Congressman Lewis is a recipient of Profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with countless other accolades. Even as John Lewis was dying he continued to put others ahead of himself. Prior to his passing Congressman John Lewis had the forethought to have his letter published in the NY Times on the day of his funeral where he addressed the younger generations, “Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.” In his letter to the NY Times on seeing Black Lives Matter Plaza Congressman Lewis wrote "I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html This is the time that we recognize this true American hero and not five, ten, or fifty years from now. Let us be more like Congressman John Lewis and be on the right side of this history.

Over the last ten months, Montgomery County Educators have been in negotiations with MCPS to make improvements to student learning conditions. Durante los últimos diez meses, los maestros(as) del Condado de Montgomery han estado en negociaciones para proporcionar mejores condiciones para el aprendizaje estudiantil. Meanwhile, the bargaining team that represents the Montgomery County Board of Education has refused to commit to legally binding agreements that address the obstacles to equity and access, and that create transparency in how resources are used at the school level. Mientras tanto, el equipo de negociación que representa a al Consejo de Educación se ha rehusado a comprometerse a acuerdos legalmente vinculantes que abordan los obstáculos a la equidad y el acceso, y crean transparencia en la utilización de recursos a nivel escolar. Specifically, educators are asking MCPS for: 1. The ability to ensure Black, Brown, and economically disadvantaged students are not disproportionately taught by novice teachers. 2. Administration to work with educators to end the school-to-prison pipeline. 3. The time to consider and prepare for the diverse needs of each student. 4. Transparency in the decisions being made related to building repairs, instructional material distribution, and staffing allocations at schools. Específicamente, los maestros(as) le exigen a MCPS lo siguiente: 1. La habilidad para asegurar que estudiantes negros, de color y en desventaja económica no sean desproporcionalmente enseñados por maestros(as) principiantes. 2. Administración para trabajar con educadores para ponerle fin al flujo de la escuela a la prisión. 3. Tiempo para considerar y prepararse para las necesidades diversas de cada estudiante. 4. Transparencia en las decisiones que se toman relacionadas a la reparación de edificios, la distribución de material de instrucción y la asignación de personal en las escuelas. MCPS continues to state they do not have enough resources to meet various student needs, yet they are planning to spend public money to involve a paid mediator, rather than reach common-sense agreements with educators that don’t cost money. MCPS continúa declarando que no tiene los recursos suficientes para atender múltiples necesidades estudiantiles; sin embargo, planifican gastar dinero público para pagar a un mediador externo, en lugar de llegar a acuerdos en buena fe con los maestros(as). Are the positions of the MCPS bargaining team representative of what the Board of Education members want for every student in the system? ¿Las posiciones del equipo de negociación de MCPS representan lo que los miembros del Consejo de Educación quieren para cada estudiante en el sistema? If not, we the undersigned, call on the Montgomery County Board of Education to direct their bargaining team to meet and negotiate with educators and come to an agreement that best benefits students and the Montgomery County community. Si no es así, nosotros(as) los que firmamos abajo, exigimos al Consejo de Educación del Condado de Montgomery que le pida a su equipo de negociación a reunirse y negociar con todos los maestros(as) y llegar a un acuerdo para el beneficio de todos los estudiantes y la comunidad del Condado de Montgomery.

Temporary administrative forbearance expires on September 30. The pandemic is making it impossible for some and much harder for others to resume payments. We are in a recession. We have lost our jobs. We have had reduced hours. We have increased childcare costs. We are not working to take care of school aged children. We are unable to find jobs. We are drowning in debt. Cancelling federally owned debt would benefit the U.S. economy, reduce the massive wealth divide, and give hope to millions of Americans struggling in today’s economy. The CARES Act placed federal student loans in a temporary administrative forbearance but what is needed is a permanent solution. Our crushing debt require cancellation entirely.

The last person you want making decisions for your children is Betsy DeVos. As Trump’s Education Secretary, DeVos has been a disaster from Day 1. But during the pandemic she’s only gotten worse. Secretary DeVos wants to hold federal school funding hostage to pressure schools to reopen in a couple of weeks, despite the nation still seeing spikes in COVID-19 cases.[1] Sign the petition: Tell Congress to block DeVos from using federal funds to pressure schools to reopen! Our nation’s schools are already massively underfunded. In a dangerous public health nightmare scenario like the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government should be funding schools to do whatever is necessary to protect students, teachers and staff, and slow the spread of the virus. Instead, if DeVos has her way, schools will have to reopen if they want federal funding that most districts desperately need. In short, DeVos wants to force cities and states to "re-open" - and doesn't seem to care if children, teachers, and school staff get sick or even die in the process. It’s worth remembering that DeVos has never once taught in a classroom, holds no degrees in education, and until Trump appointed her as Secretary of Education, had no government experience. DeVos is a right-wing billionaire donor whose pet project has been dismantling public education. Every year Trump has been in office, DeVos proposed massive budget cuts to the Department of Education. Now she’s only willing to put funds into schools if students, teachers, and school staff risk their health and their lives in the middle of an out-of-control pandemic. There’s not much time left to act before schools start in the fall. That’s why you need to tell Congress to stop DeVos immediately. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to block DeVos from using federal funds to pressure schools to reopen! [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/us/politics/trump-schools-reopening.html