I am a teacher at a MCPS. I am very familiar with the amount of capital and human resources administering the Maryland State Assessment requires. Even though MD is switching over to the Common Core State Standards, which will be assessed by PARCC, the state is planning to administer the MSA this year. Our testing coordinators have literally been told the scores won't be looked at or matter. If this is the case, it is an irresponsible waste of taxpayer money and instructional time to administer this test.

Our immigration policy is unfair and often devastating to the families of undocumented immigrants! My son's friend Ernesto, for instance, is now growing up in Oakland without his deported father in his life. But now we finally have a strong bipartisan supported bill that will strengthen our economy, keep families together, and offer a clear road-map to citizenship for nearly 11 million tax-paying, aspiring Americans! All we need now is for Democrats to start a discharge petition and introduce the bill for an up-or-down vote. As an American citizen, and the child of immigrant parents, I want legislators to stand up on the right side of history, and side with the majority of Americans, and finally make fair and just comprehensive immigration reform a reality!

Hypocrisy is unfashionable. Revlon--one of the biggest cosmetics manufacturers in the country--is running ads promoting their support for breast cancer awareness while selling products to women that actually contain cancer-causing chemicals! Revlon uses cancer-causing chemicals like parabens and formaldehyde-releasers, plus chemicals like octinoxate, linked to thyroid disruption and reproductive development problems, in their hair care products, makeup, and facial/hand creams. Revlon's major competitors--including brands like Cover Girl, Neutrogena, and Clean & Clear--are removing toxic chemicals from their products. Instead of doing the same, Revlon is pumping money into a big breast cancer awareness campaign called "Revlon Cares." The 1 in 8 women who will develop breast cancer deserve better. Tell Revlon to be part of the solution by removing toxic chemicals from their personal care products.

I was truly amazed at the uninformed comments by Sen. Durbin when discussing the financial state of Social Security. I had assumed he actually knew the bare facts and would act responsibly to ensure that the agreement made by the United States government to the workers in the United States would be honored by federal lawmakers. I'm grateful that I have a chance to express my feelings to this "Representative" who, in his arrogance, is overlaying his desires and wishes over his constituents and expecting them to suffer in silence. If enough of us speak up, hopefully a significant number of our "representatives" will listen and actually do their job

Unlike our neighboring states, PA, MD, NJ, and VA, in DE, convicted sex offenders who are classified as tier 1, are only made known to law enforcement. They are not put on the state sex offenders website. They are not prohibited from going to schools, parks, places of worship, or other places children gather. These offenders are considered "low risk "; however, I say to you, if there is ANY RISK to myself, my children, or yours, we have the right to know. There are MANY registered sex offenders on DE website, but this makes me wonder how many more offenders are living in our state that we are unaware of. Unfortunately it seems, DE does not take sex crimes seriously. This law needs to be changed to better protect our communities, but it's going to take us to do it.

What is petcoke? Petcoke is a byproduct being produced in massive amounts across the Indiana border at the BP oil refinery. Petcoke is the resultant of refining darker Canadian oil from tar sands. Due to environmental laws that are more strict in Indiana, BP is shipping the toxic waste to be stored on the Illinois side via barge. The petcoke is being stored at KCBX a company owned by Koch Industries. Apparently the guidelines in Illinois allow KCBX to store this material in the open air. On windy days, the air is filled with huge swirling clouds of black petcoke, coating everything in this heavily populated area. Prolonged exposure creates asthmatic symptoms in as little as 24 months. People are unable to open their windows or enjoy a picnic in their backyards. This has regional impacts. Think it doesn't affect you? Take another drink of water. The petcoke is being stored on the banks of the Calumet River, which is a direct tributary and directly adjacent to Lake Michigan. The piles have already reached 4 to 5 stories in height. Lake Michigan serves drinking water to over 8 million Chicagoans and citizens of outlying areas. This has global impacts. The petcoke is being stored on the southside of Chicago until it can be shipped to foreign countries with more lax environmental laws. China has been the largest importer of petcoke. The petcoke is being used as an alternative to coal. The problem is that petcoke burns three times dirtier than coal. The mayor of Detroit kicked petcoke out of their area with the pressure of the people, and its not allowed to be stored in this manner in Indiana. This problem will not go away on it's own. BP is set to triple their production this coming year. Why are we subject to this poison? Tell Mayor Rham Emanuel to remove those petcoke piles. Tell the Koch brothers that Lake Michigan is not their dumping ground. We all have the right to clean air and drinking water.

To many dogs are suffering in these puppy mills. According to the Humane Society of the United States out of 100 worst puppy mills 2 are located right here in Illinois. People pay large amounts of money for dogs that come from an uncared for, sick, deprived mother who is forced to mate. Many of these puppies from the store come with hidden health issues and when the owners cannot afford to take care of them they wind up in Humane Society's or abandoned. This only creates a larger issue of homeless animals!

Thousands of Pennsylvanians and public school supporters spoke out after Laporshia Massey died when she waited too long to get treated for an asthma attack -- all because her school did not have a nurse on duty. Governor Corbett was shamed into releasing the $45 million in school funding he was sitting on so that public schools could rehire staff. It was a great win for Philadelphia’s schoolchildren, and it gave me hope that we had turned a corner towards the schools that my child, and everyone’s children, deserve. Then I got the news that Philadelphia School Superintendent William Hite intends to funnel $10 million of that $45 million into charter schools. The $45 million was meant to help neighborhood public schools close their budget gap. What has that lack of funding meant to the district? It means 24 neighborhood public schools have been closed, thousands of teachers and support staff laid off, libraries closed, and enrichment programs cut. Why should charter schools get a cut of the $45 million when they have not been subject to the same staffing cuts? Furthermore, between financial mismanagement, lack of oversight and poor student performance, charter schools aren’t working in Philadelphia, except to drain funds from neighborhood public schools. As SRC member Joe Dworetsky put it, “The average net loss to the district when a student goes to a charter school is $7,000 per student.” When charter schools are already draining resource-starved neighborhood schools of funds, they should NOT get a cut of the $45 million. Tell Superintendent Hite to spend the money where it is most needed: in Philadelphia’s public schools. Teachers, parents and students want to make sure the district uses the $45 million to restore the programs and staff that have been cut from neighborhood public schools -- like the school nurses, counselors, and the clerical support staff that keep schools running smoothly. Education experts agree: every school needs a school nurse and one counselor for every 250 kids. We told Governor Corbett. Now we have to tell Superintendent William Hite: that $45 million should go to rehire staff at Philadelphia’s public schools.

On October 31, Senate Republicans outrageously continued their unprecedented obstruction of President Obama's judicial nominees by filibustering Pattie Millett, the first of three pending nominees to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to be brought up for a vote. With the exception of only two GOP senators -- Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska -- Republicans signaled with this vote that they would use partisan obstruction tactics to keep the incredibly important D.C. Circuit stacked disproportionately with ideological right-wing judges. This is an abdication of senators' constitutional duties fueled by nothing but politics, and it must stop.

The Administration has claimed that its drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen are legal under U.S. law, but it has never shared with Congress or the American people all of its legal memos purportedly giving legal justification for the policy. The Administration has also not told Congress or the American people who we are at war with - which groups the Administration claims it has the authority to target with drone strikes under U.S. law. By introducing legislation to compel the Administration to share this information with Congress and the public, Representative Conyers will give Americans concerned about the drone strike policy a way to engage Members of Congress on the issue.

Texting while driving has killed thousands of people every year. We need to stop this from killing more people by creating a stricter law.

I use my myopera email for everything! I can't have all of us who hold it dear, lose it!