A child with autism that cannot speak, like my 14 year old child, was recently raped by a paraprofessional, working for the Boston public school system, while alone with the student in a quit room. With all the advances in brain science I would hope that the professionals in the field of Special Educatiion can do better than physically restraining a child with an intellectual disability, or using a closet, box, boiler room or any other seperated space to address difficult behavior. Violence begets violence, no matter how you rationalize it.

Children with Cystic Fibrosis are required to take supplemental pancreatic enzymes before meals. These enzymes allow the student to digest food properly. Currently, the law states, each student must go to the nurse’s office, each day. The nurse than administers the medication to the student. This is a time consuming process, which takes forces the student to leave class early or miss part of the lunch hour. This inhibits the student’s ability to either learn or have adequate time to finish lunch. This is also becoming problematic, due to budget cuts in the schools. Some schools are eliminating full-time nurses, which would make it impossible for students to take their medication each day. Some schools have passed laws that allow students to carry medication such as over over-the-counter pain relief medications. The main impetus for the current restrictions is to insure the safety of the students by keeping controlled substances (such as prescription medications) out of the hallways and classrooms of the school. However, the danger of someone taking un-prescribed pancreatic enzymes is negligible. We believe students who have Cystic Fibrosis and require pancreatic enzymes before meals, with a Doctor’s note, should be able to carry and administer their own medication. If the student demonstrates understanding and compliance with the prescribed dosage, before the school nurse, the student should be free to carry and administer the medication. If you agree, please sign this petition and contact your lawmakers both state and federal, so David’s Law will become law as soon as possible. If you have any questions or want to help the cause, please contact David Wagner’s Cystic Fibrosis Hotline at 612-282-1211

The San Diego Board of Education cut 50 counselors from the ranks last year and they are looking to balance the budget by cutting 80 more which would eliminate all counseling support to the elementary schools. Please let them know that our children need counseling services.

The D65 School Board will vote Monday, December 19th on whether to send referenda language to the Cook County Clerk for the March 20, 2012 elections. The referenda as drafted is for $48.2 million in capital building and improvements. Improvements to existing schools are blended with $20.1 million to build a new 18-classroom school in Evanston's Fifth Ward.

Republicans in the Michigan Senate and the House of Representatives continued their assault against the public schools by passing a bill that will eliminate the caps on charter schools. There is no accountability in the bill for the charters. It is simply another raid on public school funds.

Essex County College students face many issues that could affect their education, finances being a primary issue. With the advent of tablets and e-books and e-book readers, ECC has an opportunity to lower costs for students and to provide them with some technology that will assist in competing in the ever changing world of today. We are calling for your support to convince the administrators that a tablet or e-book reader included in the tuition would lower cost for students.

Student loan debt in our country is higher than ever. Interest rates are climbing and we are not able to pay our principal balance off because our payments are solely going towards interest. Private loan interest is even higher than federal loans. If borrowers cannot pay down their principal balances than they will never be able to contribute to a positive economy. Take action by signing this petition to lower interest rates for federal and private loans.

The efficacy of corporal punishment has shown to be minimal, at best. 19 states still allow paddling and other forms of physical punishment in school. In my state, each community sets its own policy; and in many communities schools are allowed to discipline the students with corporal punishment against the wishes of parents.

School libraries nationwide continue to be decimated and closed by exclusion from Race To The Top (RTTT) and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funding currently up for renewal in congress. Teacher Librarians and well stocked school libraries not only instill a love of reading and access to books, e-books and computers, but are often the only place where ALL students, especially those living in poverty, receive access to those resources and training from a qualified teacher in cyber safety and Information Literacy research skills; how to find, evaluate and appropriately use a spectrum of print and digital media and information. Democracy depends on an informed citizenry of lifelong learners. If reading support and Information Literacy training vanish from our school libraries, or if our school libraries close, our whole nation is dumbed down.

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The cost of attending institutes of higher education has grown to be prohibitively expensive. By eliminating just the interest on loans, the repayment time could be reduced by up to 10 years in certain cases. Lets stop crippling our young people with debt for pursuing their dreams!

Save Our Schools is a national organization dedicated to eliminating high stakes testing of students and high stakes evaluation of teachers. It calls for equitable funding of schools; curriculum developed for and by local school communities; and teacher, family and community leadership in forming public education policies