The Basic Education Funding Commission will be making recommendations about a funding system to the General Assembly. Every public school must have the resources necessary to enable every child the opportunity to learn, to meet state academic standards, to be prepared for post-secondary success, and become productive, knowledgeable, and engaged adults. The Commission must focus on the learning needs of children, not just the mechanics of distribution. The calculation for setting up a baseline funding level must be based on the real costs of sufficiently providing the programs and experiences that students need to meet any standards that are set by the state. Furthermore, the Commission must recommend a funding level that meets the Constitutional obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient” education and creates an equitable approach to allocating funds that reduces the influence of politics on school funding. We must ensure that the the public and our new Governor-elect have a reasonable opportunity to participate in this process.

In most of the U.S. adult adoptees are legally discriminated against. Outdated laws governing adoption make it virtually impossible for an adult adoptee or birth parent to connect with family. I'm an adoptee who found out late in life that I was adopted. It threw me for a loop but when I found out the state of NY prevented me from seeing my original birth certificate, denying my human right to know my family and ethnic origins, I was stunned.

We, the neighbors of SW 10 street and the Little Gables neighborhood, OBJECT to the residential property located at 4028 SW 10 street being re-zoned and turned into a parking lot. It would destroy our residential block, create safety concerns, diminish our property values, increase noise starting at 5:30am, and pump car pollution directly into our homes. PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS TO HELP SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!

Everyday, instead of receiving the treatment we deserve, we are mistreated, bullied, abused, robbed, incarcerated, and sometimes killed by police fighting the war on drugs, from local police to federal agents at the DEA. Enough is Enough. We will never be able to eradicate drugs from this planet, it is not conceivable nor would most of us want to because these substances have beneficial, often medicinal value. The DEA's refusal to reschedule Marijuana, and their persistence in pursuing medical marijuana patients and their families is unacceptable and has damaged countless lives. Their draconian and unjust drug laws only target people of color and mentally ill drug addicts, and create black markets and organized crime. Stop wasting Billions of dollars a year on a war that you can not win. Let's put that Billions of dollars a year towards educating young people about drugs, without scare tactics, and treating addicts like the human beings that they are and help them to get the treatment they deserve. Kicking down our doors over a medicinal marijuana plant with a swat team is unacceptable and often dangerous behavior. Shut down the DEA now!

The U.S. House just voted to approve the pipeline and the Senate is expected to pass it within hours. This is a last-ditch effort by Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu to save her seat at the expense of our health and climate. Urge President Obama to veto the dangerous Keystone XL Pipeline!

This country's engagement in its right and responsibility to vote and stay engaged in its politics is downright disgraceful, embarrassing and self destructive. If we cannot get more folks to vote we can kiss this country goodbye, because sociopaths with huge megaphones are taking over.

Monsanto’s genetically modified and pesticide-laden food is at an all-time high. Their creation of Round-up Ready crops have been directly responsible for the destruction of habitat of many species, including the Monarch Butterfly. Not only that, but Monsanto has the gall to sue states and countries who have stood up to this giant and passed legislation to ban or label GMOs -- draining tax-payer dollars in an attempt to financially overpower our democracy. It is time to take a stand and MAKE Monsanto listen -- and the only way to do that is with our wallets. Sign this petition to tell Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant that until Monsanto changes to become healthier, GMO-free, more eco-friendly, and more ethical, you will not purchase any of the products from any of these Monsanto companies or Allies: Aunt Jemima Aurora Foods Banquet Bayer Best Foods Betty Crocker Bisquick Cadbury Campbells Capri Sun Carnation Chef Boyardee Coca Cola ConAgra Delicious Brand Cookies Duncan Hines Famous Amos Frito Lay General Mills Green Giant Healthy Choice Heinz Hellmans Hershey's Nestle Holsum Hormel Hungry Jack Hunts Interstate Bakeries Jiffy KC Masterpiece Keebler/Flowers Industries Kelloggs Kid Cuisine Knorr Kool-Aid Kraft/Phillip Morris Lean Cuisine Lipton Loma Linda Marie Callenders Minute Maid Morningstar Ms. Butterworths Nabisco Nature Valley Ocean Spray Ore-Ida Orville Redenbacher Pasta-Roni Pepperidge Farms Pepsi Pillsbury Pop Secret Post Cereals Power Bar Brand Prego Pasta Sauce Pringles Procter and Gamble Quaker Ragu Sauce Rice-A-Roni Roundup Smart Ones Starbucks Stouffers Schweppes Tombstone Pizza Totinos Uncle Ben's Unilever V8

Nearly identical to the anti-gay legislation passed in Arizona, Georgia’s “religious freedom” bill would give individuals, businesses and other entities, including government employees, the right to discriminate against gay people or other groups currently protected by civil rights laws. The legislation would provide a free pass for business owners who believe homosexuality is a sin to openly deny gay Americans employment or service. This bill is a slap in the face to the LGBT community and everyone who believes in equality and civil rights. And the legislation would extend beyond protecting those who want to discriminate against gay Americans. According to the New Republic, under the new Arizona law, "a restaurateur could deny service to an out-of-wedlock mother, a cop could refuse to intervene in a domestic dispute if his religion allows for husbands beating their wives, and a hotel chain could refuse to rent rooms to Jews, Hindus, or Muslims." It would allow physicians and nurses to refuse medical care, such as blood transfusions, that they find religiously offensive and allow government employees who adhere to extremist religions to refuse service to a person of a particular race. It is shameful that this is a conversation that we need to have at all. The “Preservation of Religious Freedom Act” is a disgraceful misstep and an embarrassment to our state. Tell your lawmaker to support the rights of all Georgians and to reject legislation that promotes discrimination.

My child attends public school in Philadelphia. There are many people--teachers, administrators, parents and students--working very hard to improve public education in Philadelphia in the face of incredible funding shortages. Ms. Simms' actions are an unacceptable insult to genuine efforts to make things better for Philadelphia's students. Her behavior just makes things worse; in these difficult times, we don't need people like Sylvia Simms having any role in governing our city schools.

Article 9 of the Japanese Peace Constitution declares that Japan will never again make war. Japan has not made war for 67 years. U.S. occupation forces re-wrote the Peace Constitution in 1946. The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is campaigning to bring a version of Article 9 as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I am a member of WILPF and Veterans for Peace, working closely to make Article 9 a reality in the U.S. and ultimately to support the UN mandate to abolish war-making as a political-economic tool.

This is concerning the FBISD's recent proposal to rezone students, who live in Lake Olympia, from Elkins H.S. to Hightower H.S. We are asking the Board of Trustees to reconsider and keep Lake Olympia residents at Elkins . It is our neighborhood school and has been the high school for Lake Olympia since it opened 23 years ago. In addition, it is the closest high school, just 1 mile away, whereas Hightower is 6 miles away, down a major state highway or over a toll road with many natural and commercial barriers in between. Sign the petition and keep Lake Olympia residents at Elkins!

Are you a Negro? Would you be shocked by the question "Are you a Negro?" if you were called to serve your jury duty in New York? I was, when I initially read it on the NY juror information card while answering my jury summon. That happened to me on November 13, 2013. Fast forward to November 15, 2014, when I received an email with the subject "Army Drops Use of Term 'Negro in Document" that had me thinking: The army agrees with me that the word 'Negro' has a historical negativity attached to it even when, or where, negativity is not intended. After all, the ultimate test of whether something is offensive lies not in an intention but in a perception of it. While searching further on the issue, I discovered this issue stirs occasional strong reactions similar to this story: New York (CNN) - "Yes, I identify as black or African-American, but I am not a Negro," wrote a young lady in a CNN article on the issue. I have not encountered any organized movement targeting elimination of this unnecessary nuisance from the New York State court system while many other states have done it already. Will you please join me in making this happen by spreading the word and by signing this petition to appeal to the New York State Office of Court Administration to immediately remove the term "Negro" from the New York State court forms? Thank you for standing with me on making New York a better place for all of us.