I’m an elementary educator in Massachusetts public schools, retiring in June after 22 years of teaching. I’m also a mom. I know too well, from all angles, the painful impact of Massachusetts’ inability to fully fund our schools. Here are a few snapshots: when I started teaching first grade in 1997, I had 14 students and a full time bilingual aide. Twelve years later, I had 26 students and no aide. Among those 26 students, I had more English language learners (many of them newcomers to English), more students with learning disabilities, and more students suffering from childhood trauma. I am currently a Title 1 Math teacher, but even teaching eight groups a day, I can only serve half the grades in my school. My school needs two of me. My math intervention is extremely effective in getting children up to grade level so they will not need an IEP, but I can only provide services in first, second and third grade because there’s only one of me. There is an urgent public education funding crisis facing Massachusetts. That’s why I’m rallying with students, family members, community members, educators, principals, school staff, and local elected officials, on the streets and at the State House next week to urge passage of the PROMISE Act, which will increase state education aid by $1 billion per year for preK-12 public schools. I will be taking a personal day on Friday, March 22 and making a five hour bus trip to Boston and back to testify before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Education to seize this generational opportunity to fully fund our schools. Please join me in demanding action from our lawmakers for fair and equitable public education for every student in the Commonwealth. Back in 2015, the bipartisan Massachusetts Foundation Budget Review Commission found that the Commonwealth’s public school funding formula is woefully outdated and that state spending is way too low. Remember, the formula for education spending hasn’t been updated since 1993! This has created crises at the local level with cities and towns and our schools having to make drastic cuts, all of which harm our children’s education. It’s time to say ENOUGH! The Promise Act, filed by Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz (D-Boston) and by Reps. Aaron Vega (D-Holyoke) and Mary Keefe (D-Worcester), would over a period of time implement the five core recommendations of the Commission. The bulk of the additional funds would go to districts with the greatest need and fewest resources. The formula would be changed to: **Realistically account for districts’ health care costs. **Provide adequate support for English learners and low income students. **Account for special education costs. **Mitigate losses to charter schools. The bill is also structured to ensure that **every district** benefits during the phase-in of reforms and that no one type of reform is front-loaded or back-loaded. And, of course we also have to account for the unique and pressing needs of rural schools like regional transportation and declining enrollment, an effort that gained ground last year, but must go much further this session. We live in precarious times. An educated, creative, hard-working and compassionate citizenry is the best hope for our future. If we shortchange our schools, we weaken our democracy and jeopardize our future. It’s time to fund our future now. Please—for all our children—call for this major reinvestment in public education to happen in time for local communities to include the funding in the next academic year’s budget. We can begin to repair the persistent education inequity that often exists between students in one community and those in the city or town right next door.

Recently, the Board of Directors of the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy (JBHA) announced that it would no longer recognize the teachers' union, withdrawing the ability of the JBHA teachers to bargain collectively. The teachers, however, wish to maintain their union. We stand with the teachers. Their ability to unionize ensures the ongoing academic excellence of JBHA and is an expression of core Jewish values. Recognition of the Faculty Association enacts two central Jewish values, the duty to impart Jewish teachings (Talmud Torah) and the duty to protect the interests of workers. Religious authorities across the spectrum of Jewish life affirm that unions are consistent with Jewish teachings: Among Orthodox authorities, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenburg recognizes the rights of workers to strike. (She’elot u’Teshuvot of the Tzitz Eliezer 2:23; this ruling does not extend to Torah teachers, but applies to teachers of other subjects.) The Reform movement has a long-standing commitment to labor unions, with the Central Conference of American Rabbis resolving in 1921, "Under the present organization of society, labor's only safeguard against a retrogression to former inhuman standards is the union." In 2008, the Committee on Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement passed a decision authored by Rabbi Jill Jacobs that says, in part: “Jewish employers should allow their employees to make their own independent decisions about whether to unionize.” We contend that JBHA will be best positioned for the future by embodying Jewish values and by embracing its teachers as full partners in its educational mission. We call on the Board to reconsider its decision and to recognize the JBHA Faculty Association.

Recently, the Board of Directors of the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy (JBHA) announced that it would no longer recognize the teachers' union, withdrawing the ability of the JBHA teachers to bargain collectively. The teachers, however, wish to maintain their union. We stand with the teachers. Their ability to unionize ensures the ongoing academic excellence of JBHA and is an expression of core Jewish values. Recognition of the Faculty Association enacts two central Jewish values, the duty to impart Jewish teachings (Talmud Torah) and the duty to protect the interests of workers. Religious authorities across the spectrum of Jewish life affirm that unions are consistent with Jewish teachings: Among Orthodox authorities, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenburg recognizes the rights of workers to strike. (She’elot u’Teshuvot of the Tzitz Eliezer 2:23; this ruling does not extend to Torah teachers, but applies to teachers of other subjects.) The Reform movement has a long-standing commitment to labor unions, with the Central Conference of American Rabbis resolving in 1921, "Under the present organization of society, labor's only safeguard against a retrogression to former inhuman standards is the union." In 2008, the Committee on Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement passed a decision authored by Rabbi Jill Jacobs that says, in part: “Jewish employers should allow their employees to make their own independent decisions about whether to unionize.” We contend that JBHA will be best positioned for the future by embodying Jewish values and by embracing its teachers as full partners in its educational mission. We call on the Board to reconsider its decision and to recognize the JBHA faculty association.

I love dogs. Too often they are purchased, bred and subjected to torturous experiments, frequently resulting in death. There is no justification for such abuse.

This is a clear case of intentional Animal Abuse, and not even the tip of the iceberg according to HSUS. More info: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/03/13/beagles-fungicides-michigan-lab/3144769002/

It is for Challenge Class. You also shouldn't call people names that they don't like. You should stand up for yourself and others or the hate will go on.

Trump's latest budget proposal would increase Pentagon spending to an inexplicable $750 billion next year, while cutting Medicare and Medicaid. Last year, the Pentagon spent $22 million of taxpayer money on lobster tail. The Pentagon also failed its first-ever comprehensive audit in November. A department that has spent trillions of dollars in the past decade can't explain where all the money has gone. Spending billions of dollars on war (and lobster tail apparently) is seen as perfectly acceptable while those in power try to count every penny when it comes to comprehensive domestic programs like Medicare for All or free college. It's time to set our priorities straight. And progressive leaders, those currently in power and those vying for president, must make it absolutely clear that our priorities are to invest in programs that make the world a better place––from international initiatives to stem climate change to domestic programs providing Medicare for everyone. Sign the petition to let current and future elected progressives know they must commit to reallocating the excessive Pentagon budget.

There have been a number of cases where innocent people have been executed by the state. There have been cases where the mental and psychological capacity of the accused was severely limited. As a Catholic, we believe capital punishment is “inadmissible” and an attack on the “dignity of the person.” The state of Georgia needs to join with the other 20 states and the District of Columbia in ending this immoral practice.

Make this world a better and safer place. People should be extremely concerned because people are dying due to gun violence and still nothing is happening.

People who find themselves victims of human trafficking are no different than us, and often times, we never really know when someone is experiencing this. These people are often forced into committing crimes and get a criminal record that prevents them from getting a job or buying a home after they escape their trafficker's wrath. Imagine someone in your family was experiencing this, you would want others to help too.

Tell the Legislature and Governor to take a stand and act today - College admissions shouldn't be bought or sold. It really shouldn't be a question of who you know. Let's stop auctioning off access to Vermont's Colleges and Universities to the highest bidders.

Due to increased wildfire risk, many homeowners are being faced with Homeowner policy cancellation. This is putting individuals at risk of losing their homes and belongings and ending up in financial ruin.