$1.4 billion is necessary for NYS school districts just to open the doors next year, yet the Executive Budget provides just $378 million for this purpose. This would underfund even a “roll-over” budget. Further concern arises from the Governor’s proposals to: - Repeal the Foundation Aid formula, thus erasing any history of the funding that has been lost by school districts, and - Freeze Foundation Aid at 2017-18 levels, even though costs continue to rise This means that school districts would have no new funding coming in, and would not have the ability to get it in future years, even as costs and expectations escalate.

I am a retired teacher with thirty years of experience. I am also the mother of an adult child with learning disabilities. U.S. Senators Cantswell and Murray got it right when they stated, “The Department’s failure to keep this critical resource operational makes it harder for parents, educators, and administrators to find the resources they need to implement this federal law and protect the rights of children with disabilities." Please sign to restore this resource!

Opposition to LB608 The Parental Choice Scholarship Program Act, introduced by Lou Ann Linehan, takes funds away from public schools for each student that goes to a private school. This hurts Nebraska communities and has the potential to increase taxes. This is a radical copy of programs launched by Betsy DeVos and Mike Pence. By providing public funds to religious organizations it would also be unconstitutional: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/articles.php?article=VII-11

Athletics have long been an important part of the Northland College experience and help support enrollment and financial goals. Tuition, donations and the college's modest endowment are the primary sources of revenue which drive the schools bottom line. This has been a good model, we all had a good experience? Northland was just just ranked the #2 outdoor college by Backpacker Magazine this fall. Even with this good press and many recent investments, the Board remains concerned about declining enrollment. In an effort to boost enrollment Northland College has contracted with Athletics Staffing & Consultants, www.ascwinners.com/asc/, to explore development potential of a football program. Does a football program really fit the ethos of the Northland experience? What other sports can deliver value which complement Northland's existing liberal arts, environmental and outdoor related offerings? Challenge the Northland College Board of Trustees to develop its athletic program in a way that supports and enhances the values and experience we hold true as students, alumni and members of the greater Northland community. Tell the Board of Trustees you do not support a football program and tell them about your concerns relating to football culture and how this may impact the Northland experience. You can read the letter posted by the Board of Trustees, http://northland.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0bbd0f0841cdeb25c2f75fe44&id=b67ee53a06&e=ba0713aca9 Kind Regards, Peter Werts, class of 2006

Firing so many frontline school clerks is unacceptable and will have harmful impact on our schools, our students and their families.

Betsy DeVos has proven time and time again that she is completely unqualified to serve as Secretary of Education. Recently, she struggled to answer even basic questions about schools in her home state of Michigan, where she implemented a private charter school system that has drained public education funds and worsened both public and private school performance statewide. During her confirmation hearings, it was alarmingly clear she was lacking knowledge about public education as we know it, as well as our most at-risk students—the disabled, the economically disadvantaged, English Language Learners, and more. Also in her hearings, she cited dangers from "grizzlies" as a reason guns should be in schools. Now, unsurprisingly, she is advocating Donald Trump's plan to arm teachers. A well-educated public is an essential cornerstone of American democracy. Betsy DeVos is a clear and present danger to that and must be forced to resign.

Betsy DeVos is completely unqualified to head up the Department of Education. She has never attended, taught in, or sent her children to public schools.

We have been fighting this battle for 12 years. During that time, over $1 Trillion in student loan debt has been added to the citizenry, and millions of lives have been wrecked. Congress created this problem. Congress must solve it by repealing 11 USC 523(a)(8) Please come to StudentLoanJustice.Org to help, and join us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/sljgroup. The citizens are banding together and we need your help!

We want our legislators and government officials to know that we do not support the efforts of some of the citizens of Nicholas County to keep the schools in Richwood. We support the BOE and the Superintendent and understand the challenges we face as a County. We want what's best for all of the students and their future. Nicholas County High School and Richwood High School are excellent schools, if the decision is made to consolidate we will still have a legacy of excellence. Please do not let the voices of a few based on emotion overshadow what's best for our County, students and future.

Boycott that Orlando Magic, Until the homophobic DeVos clan is forced to relinquish it in a sale.

Richwood was devastated by the 1000 year floods that hit West Virginia in June 2016. We've all come together and are winning the fight of our lives to rebuild. FEMA has promised to build us a shiny new High School and Middle School, but now the County BOE superintendent wants to SHUT DOWN RMS and RHS and bus our children across our very large county to a NEW consolidated School that none of us want. Nicholas County is the fifth largest county in the state, 638 square miles. We are plenty large enough to hold two combination High Schools and Middle Schools. If we are to combine schools, let's combine our high school with our middle school. Large consolidated schools have been proven in many studies to fail students from poor or rural backgrounds. There is a much higher rate of failure for children bused out of their community and a much higher dropout rate for these students as well. Our students would have to ride the bus at least 29 miles morning and afternoon over winding rural roads, dangerous in the snow (of which Nicholas County gets a lot). It has happened often that there was 3" of snow in Richwood when Summersville got only a dusting. Richwood High School has won awards for its academic excellence (US News & World Reports List of Best High Schools for AP participation and success). We are especially very proud of our music program with its award winning, multi-state competing and traveling marching band, The Lumberjack Express. Our Middle and High Schools are the very Heart of our little City. It would cause irreparable educational and economic damage to us all if we were to lose our beloved hometown schools.

My son Jack is a spunky, determined, charismatic six-year-old. He plays baseball, basketball and soccer. He swims and reads and dances. Jack has Down syndrome, but that doesn’t define him. It’s one of the things that makes Jack awesome. And Jack is one of the things that makes his school awesome. Jack attends our local public school—and thanks to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), Jack is thriving. But Trump’s nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, would put Jack’s education—and the education of millions of other students with special needs—at risk. During her Senate testimony, Ms. DeVos seemed to have no knowledge of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), the federal law that ensures students with learning challenges get the support and assistance they need to thrive. Jack’s IEP is specially tailored to his “individual” academic and functional goals. He knows that the books he reads were chosen for his reading level, that his physical therapist helps him keep up with his friends and that his speech therapist supports his behavioral goals by giving him language to function appropriately in his classroom. Our sons—Jack and his big brother Griffin—are able to attend the same wonderful public school, thanks to the extra help Jack receives through IDEA. Jack’s teachers and classmates don’t see squinty eyes, extra chromosomes and noisy footsteps—they see Jack’s strengths and weaknesses, his favorite activities, his charm. And Jack gets to learn and grow with kids of all capabilities and from all backgrounds, too. When we were working to get Jack’s IEP approved, I remember telling my teacher friends that I felt like I was also advocating for our amazing schools. I knew that having Jack there would make our amazing schools even awesomer, and that has come to fruition. That school rallies around our guy and supports him so much, and having that kind of diversity--whether across abilities, economic classes, races, or interests--is so vital to our public schools and our democracy. But if Betsy DeVos—who has called our public schools a “dead end”—is confirmed, public schools will be in grave danger. It’s not just that she doesn’t know or care about the federal laws that provide extra help for kids like Jack. It’s that she doesn’t believe in public education. DeVos wants to make our schools into a marketplace, pushing private school vouchers and for-profit charter schools. Her ideas will result in the defunding of the neighborhood public schools like Jack’s—and as parents select specialized schools, families like ours will be left with a no-win choice. In our neighborhood public school, our kids are exposed to so many different kinds of learners, ethnicities, backgrounds, races, and differences of every kind. That helps them learn tolerance and acceptance, and build the skills to interact with people from all different backgrounds. if people choose schools based on specialties, Jack will end up at a special school for kids with disabilities or as a "leftover" in his public school. Schools will lack the cultural and sociological diversity that emulates the real world. And students at the other schools will have no idea as to how to interact with the disability community. Betsy DeVos doesn’t care about kids like Jack—she can’t even be bothered to learn about the federal laws that make it possible for Jack to thrive in our neighborhood public school. Her vision will hurt all of our kids, and especially kids with special needs. Ashley Meier Barlow, Fort Thomas, Kentucky