Petition Tag - education

SATs are unnecessary tests that cause a great amount of stress for both students and teachers. They are meant to show how well the school is performing by testing the knowledge and ability of its students, but what they end up showing is the result of weeks of panicked revision and pressure put on the students by the teachers and on teachers by the government.

The line we were familiar with at primary school - "they're just a test of the school" - was never valid. Our SATs results were used to determine our sets for secondary school, and now, in year 9, for GCSEs. What effect do you think this has on the students who do well in class, but badly in exams? I know from experience how difficult it is to move up a set once you've been dumped at the bottom.

As a school student myself I feel it is particularly important that SATs are abolished.

View petition

The Pennsylvania Economy League (PEL) has recommended transferring governance and oversight of WIA Title II Adult Education and Family Literacy and Act 143 funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education, to the Department of Labor and Industry, Bureau of Workforce Development Partnerships.

The Pennsylvania Association for Adult Continuing Education (PAACE) has responded to Governor Rendell. See that document at www.paacesite.org.

View petition

As a multi-faith and multi-cultural society, the United Kingdom hosts many people from different walks of life and with many different beliefs with religion playing an important part of this.

No doubt as a result of this, at GCSE level, religious education (RE) is made compulsory. This, in itself, I don't disagree with at all, in fact I think it's a great idea. But the fact the syllabus only requires students to study 2 religions (Christianity and one other) surely is not in keeping with the fact that this subject is after all, all about tolerance and acceptance.

Ignorance of other main religions will no doubt in some cases lead to prejudice and discrimination, which is surely not what the government and the public would want today's children to carry with them to later life.

It seems a waste of the RE teachers degree level knowledge and is not at all encouraging acceptance between future generations or the exploration and questioning of faith which children of this age should be encouraged to do.

Please, please sign this petition if you want the government to change the syllabus so that our children can learn more about other main religions and so learn to accept and take the next step towards a less conflicted world. This may seem a bit of an exaggeration as to what this petition can achieve, on too small a scale and too trivial a matter to achieve this but the children after all, are the future and will one day be the voices of society.

Thank you so much, just the fact you have read the petition is raising awareness and I hope you feel strongly about this issue as I do =)

View petition

The learning of the Indonesian langauge and culture is of great importance to us in Australia. They are our neighbours, we can't ignore this issue.

The Australian Education Departments from all states do not allow travel for secondary school students to Indonesia due to a travel warning from DFAT. Private schools go. This is a another disadvantage for our state school students.

Travel possibilities for secondary students is the biggest motivator to learn a language. The study of Indonesian is being further marginalised to the detriment of students and their teachers.

View petition

The Minister of Education established a Post Primary review Body to bring forward recommendations on the future organization of schools. The Review Body Report, usually known as the Burns Report, was published in 2001 (Post Primary Review Body, 2001). Its main recommendations were that:

· The use of the 11+ transfer tests should cease and the system of academic selection in the transfer from primary to post-primary school should end.

· A system of formative assessment, through a Pupil Profile, should be established to provide real educational information to teachers, parents and pupils.

· Post primary schools should be organized into collaborative networks of diverse schools called Collegiates.

Equality must be at the heart of education. The reality is that academic selection for some means academic rejection for the majority of our children. It is a system, which is fundamentally unfair.

A system, which designates any 11-year-old child, "a failure" is fundamentally flawed and must be replaced.

View petition

When the first Educate Together primary school opened in South Dublin thirty years ago, it was as result of a prolonged campaign by pioneering parents determined to claim their constitutional and human rights to choose a multi-denominational, democratic ethos for their children’s education.

Since these rights do not cease when children reach the age of twelve, pressure has been mounting on Educate Together to expand its successful model into the post-primary sphere ever since.

Until now, groups of parents who have mobilised around the country in an attempt to establish Educate Together second-level schools have been frustrated in their efforts. In a context of powerful institutional structures which are resistant to change, the task facing parents is daunting. Educate Together now feels compelled to move to support, at a national level, parents’ various campaigns to claim their right to choice.

However, there is much more to this move than supporting parents. Educate Together believes that reform of second-level education in Ireland is overdue. Irish society has been undergoing huge social, economic and demographic change in recent decades. Calls for a different approach to education; one which can better prepare young people for life in 21st century globalised Ireland; have come from bodies as diverse as the Combat Poverty Agency and Forfás. The need for an education system which promotes innovation and creativity, responsible citizenship, and social inclusion and cohesion has never been greater. Since these are the values that underpin Educate Together's unique ethos, the time is right for parents' voices to be heard.

Educate Together has applied to the Minister for Education and Science to be registered as a patron of second-level schools, based on its outstanding track record at primary level. We ask for your support in lobbying the Minister to confirm this registration as a matter of urgency so that we can proceed to work with families at local level to provide for the type of modern, holistic, equality-based, learner-centred education they want.

SCHOOL GATE ACTION DAY - THURS 25th SEPT - many thanks for your support. Please send your completed petitions to the National Office by October 31st.

View petition

The Baord changed the Exit Exam qualification so graduates only have to pass three certain subjects, unless they have a disability in one of those three, then they can pass a different subject, as long as they pass the other two plus one.

The catch is it only applies to 2008 grads and up. 2007 grads and down is out of luck.

View petition

Many towns in the United States are strongly segregated by race and economic background, especially in Michigan, Arizona, New York, and more.

Many times two towns next to each other are very diverse in ethnicity, race, and economic background. Our American youth are not being prepared for the globalized world that is already at their fingertips.

View petition

The College of New Caledonia located in Prince George, B.C. is facing a 1.1 Million Dollar deficit and has cut many programs such as the majority of the History and Geography UT courses, Business, Forestry and all three Adult Special Education programs; JET, Target, and OpenDoors.

After numerous presentations and rallies held against the proposed cuts, the Board of Governors decided to cut the programs for the 2008/2009 academic year.

View petition

Our school system fails to provide the practical tools our children need to succeed. Studies show that despite better funding than other major countries, the United States falls behind in performance.

By signing the petition below, you will be sending a clear message to our government that you believe we need to improve the subject matter taught in our public high schools. For instance, many of the required classes found within the fields of Math and Science are only applicable to a few professions such as Engineering. Meanwhile, Sales and Customer Service are much more common professions and yet the subject is never taught. Other subject areas such as English and History sadly focus on memorizing instead of critical thinking. In English, classic works should be used as an elective similar to Art Appreciation or Music Appreciation, while the focus should be on improving the grammar and writing of our students. In History, the memorization of dates and names should not be as important as analyzing topics such as leadership and civil rights.

In addition, the recent stock market and housing bubbles demonstrate that individuals could use more information on these topics. These topics should be discussed in school.

Lastly, parents play a critical role in a student's success. A class that helps students better understand the parents' perspective will cause students to better appreciate the role their parents play.

View petition

Cypress Elementary is about to celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. However, instead of celebrating, students, teachers, and parents alike are worried that this will be their last year in their beloved school.

Cypress has been a "A" school since the "No Child Left Behind" was instituted. Cypress Elementary is a small, family oriented school that promotes not only the highest education available in a public school setting, but also a family, friendly atmosphere for our children and their parents.

With underacheiving schools all around us, one would think that our School Board would want to keep an "A" rated school open. This does not seem to be the case. With so many other options availble to the School Board why would they want or need to close down our school? Obviously, the School Board is not looking out for our children's best interest.

So, parents of children attending Cypress Elementary need to band together as the family we are and let the School Board know that we will not allow them to close our school. What will happen to our children when Cypress is no more? Well, they will end up in other, over populated schools, and possible underacheiving schools.

We need to let the School Board know that we will not allow this to happen to our children. Pleaes sign this petition in order to keep Cypress Elementary School Open. They deserve the best public education possible and that is at Cypress Elementary.

View petition

Everyday, people around the world lose their lives in terrorist attacks and today, in the United States, it is easy to forget that our great nation is at war with the distractions the mainstream media produces. It is the duty of the United States government to raise awareness and educate its citizens on the subject of terrorism and the War in Iraq.

Increasing awareness of terrorism related subjects would help us prepare and react appropriately in case of a local attack as well as help us understand the principles behind terrorism and allow ourselves to make sensible, educated, and thoughtful opinions on international matters.

Suggestions include classes or extracurricular activities in high schools and colleges, public services, newscast, TV spots, and campaigning to raise awareness in California or nationwide.

Subjects include: Genocide awareness, education on terrorist groups, education on terrorist mentality and how it relates to religious, political, and social beliefs, further expanding education on 9/11 and the War in Iraq, preparation in case of a terrorist attack, course of action to take in case of terrorist attack, prevention of terrorist activity, and terrorism as it relates on a global scale.

View petition

For a long time now the moment of silence has been looked down upon in schools because people feel like it is both a waste of time and a way to enforce prayer/religion on people. The truth of the matter is it is neither.

The "moment of silence" is, as described by wikipedia, the expression for a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, and meditation. There are three options that a moment of silence allows students to do and only one of them is prayer. Students can think about what they plan to do that day and calm down before school starts. This provides students and teachers with a more efficient learning environment.

In conclusion, the moment of silence in schools is in no way enforcing religion upon students, because it provides students with many more options, and it is not an excuse for students to waste class time, because it calms classes down providing a more efficient learning environment.

View petition

A Greek Court has recently decided to force the withdrawal from the National
School Library system of the National Award novel, “Zig-zag Through the Bitter
Orange Trees” by Ersi Sotiropoulos, as the result of a lawsuit initiated by the
extreme-right politician K. Plevris against the Greek Ministry of Education.

The court’s decision, based on the judge’s opinion that the book “contains
passages clearly pornographic and vulgar,” is a monument of extreme
conservatism, and is viewed by Greek intellectuals as an unprecedented attack
on reason, freedom of speech and the independence of artistic creation and
education.

Find out more about the book here.

View petition

I Feel that High Schools In Liberty County Shouldn't Wear Uniforms Because It
Won't Change The Way We Act And It Wont Do Anything But Make Things Worse.

Nearly No One Is Going To Wear Them..If The Board Of Education Wants To Do
Anything They Should Crack Down On THeir Disciplinary Rules And Conduct. Not
Make It Worse....

View petition

Bridgeport, CT's Proposed 2009 Budget constitutes many changes and hardships for citizens in an already stressed community.

According to the budget, 43 newly civilianized staff that will operate the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) even though though the budget has scaled back funding for public library services, eliminates 19 positions in the Public Health Nursing Program, eliminates the general fund school based program, dental hygiene and reduces the nursing staff by half, budgetary reduction of 1/3 of staff funding, reduction of 25 positions, eliminates 87 direct line positions and accounts. Budget calls for a 4-mill tax hike or a 9 percent increase in taxes. As far as education, 7.4 teaching positions are not funded in the mayor's budget, and 41 new positions could not be filled.

The budget allows to provide sanitation services including garbage collection, bulk trash pickup, leaf removal, and recycling to our residents. Beyond regular trash pickup, these additional services are by no means mandated, and they carry a cost of $6,545,327.

These costs could be reduced if residents would carry the cost of garbage removal.

View petition

This petition is for those who support retaining Flint Central’s current principal despite whatever other administrative personnel moves are made within the school system.

Principal Lynn Jenkins has brought a fresh perspective, a passion for education, and a commitment to high standards at Flint Central. Her hard work has impressed many students, teachers, parents, alumni and community supporters.

Principal Jenkins has led the installment of new academic enrichment opportunities and she has collaborated with supporters who raised thousands of dollars to continue existing programs such as the Model United Nations and the Madrigals.

As people who care about the future of our students, as well as about continuing Flint Central’s tradition as one of the region’s educational gems, it is clear that we need Principal Jenkins at Flint Central when the doors open next school year.

This petition is designed to be a show of support for retaining Principal Jenkins at Flint Central as the administration and board begin making decisions about next year’s personnel placements. Please sign the petition and continue to show your support.

View petition

Statement of Service

Vision
Music Changing Lives’ goal is to conduct and analyze research, sponsor extensive workshops, and collaborate with a variety of practitioners to further our mission of reducing America’s dropout rate by meeting the needs of youth in at-risk situations.

Mission
Music Changing Lives’ team aims to assist others in connecting with the essence of life and help them build a better tomorrow.

Who can use our service?
Our services will be available to all students as long as they keep a 2.5 grade point average or C average. Our jobs and events database may be accessed by all students of Music Changing Lives.

What we offer you
Music Changing Lives has adopted a variety of programming features, and services within a comprehensive model to allow every youngster to be successful in his or her education.

These developments include a supportive non-traditional school structure, a small student-teacher ratio, individualized learning, student contracting, intensive counseling, vocational skill training, and a diagnostic prescriptive teaching process.

Jobs and events database
Students will be able to register with MCL to access vacancy listings for graduate roles, part-time, casual and work experience opportunities.

Individual guidance
• Mentoring/Tutoring
• Service Learning
• After school opportunities
• Family Engagement
• Early Literacy Development
• Professional Development
• Active Learning
• Educational Technology
• Individualized Instruction
• Systemic Renewal
• School-Community Collaboration
• Career and Technical Education
• Safe Schools

Employer events
These include employer presentations on campus, career expos and skill development workshops.

Career management skill workshops and activities
These include lunchtime workshops, workshops within your program and workshops for High School students.

What you can expect from us

Initial awareness materials will be available at no cost. Awareness and training sessions are available with costs to be negotiated, either at the home site or adoption site. Adoption of the model will include consultation and evaluation support for the first year.

Music Changing Lives’ goals are to conduct and analyze research, sponsor extensive workshops, and collaborate with a variety of practitioners to further the mission of reducing America’s dropout rate by meeting the needs of youth in at-risk situations.

These strategies, although appearing to be independent, frequently overlap and are synergistic. They can be implemented as stand-alone programs (i.e. mentoring or family involvement projects.) When school districts develop an improvement plan that encompasses most or all of these strategies, positive outcomes result. These strategies have been successful in all school levels from K-12 and in rural, suburban, or urban centers.

Evidence of Effectiveness

The strategies were developed by Dr. Jay Smink, Executive Director of the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson University in association with Franklin P. Schargel. They have shown that with similar strategies the Music Changing Lives Model offers it will enable students to earn their high school diploma or GED certificate and go on to become a successful citizen, by introducing work skills and social adaptation. Improvements have been shown to be maintained long after program completion.

How youth will access our services

Requirements: While Music Changing Lives’ goal is to develop its own Educational Center a facility apart from any traditional school that teaches At-Risk youth to become entrepreneurs. The Model's “15 Effective Strategies to Reduce the Dropout Rate” has been designed to be incorporated into any existing high school educational program or by the students solely. Minimally, the Model would require a separate wing or floor to accommodate its special focus. The number of faculty and staff will be based on enrollment, to support our student-teacher ratio 12-1 meaning twelve students to one teacher. In addition to the necessity of high-interest, low-skill level materials for classroom use, and space for vocational classes, faculty training and in-service programs are a necessity.

Costs: Overall costs for implementation of the Music Changing Lives Model are similar to costs in a public school system. Estimates for personnel, and learning materials needed to serve 160 students: nine teaching positions, five support staff, and three days of training annually, office space, classroom and vocational equipment, record-keeping, work supplies, and testing materials.

Feedback and evaluation

We regularly review our services and resources and your feedback is extremely valuable in determining how we can increase our effectiveness. Occasionally we seek feedback in the form of questionnaire on specific aspects of our service. In such instances, any information provided will be treated with discretion and no information about individual respondents will be made available to others. Feedback may be provided to any member of the Music Changing Lives team; by sending an email to musicchanginglives@live.com.

View petition

With the culture and history of the traditional custodians of Australia somewhat neglected since colinisation, it is now time to address this imbalance.

View petition

It is known that the state of California is in a financial dilemma, with a $16 billion deficit.

At the beginning of this year Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped the bomb that he intended on $4.8 billion in cuts to the California public schools and a 10% cut in spending for higher education in the next year when one of our largest high school graduating classes is on its way.

Programs such as art, science, physical education, technology, music, after school sports, summer school, supplemental instruction, and libraries are slotted as some of those to be cut.

View petition

ATENÇÃO! ESTE ABAIXO-ASSINADO CONTINUA CORRENDO, MAS ESTA LISTA ESTÁ DESATIVADA. AS ASSINATURAS QUE ESTÃO NESSE SITE FORAM TRANSPORTADAS E INTEGRADAS ÀS DE OUTRO LUGAR VIRTUAL: UM SITE EM PORTUGUÊS, MAIS COMPLETO E MAIS FÁCIL DE PREENCHER: EM WWW.CRPSP.ORG.BR.

Está em andamento na Câmara Municipal de São Paulo um Projeto de Lei (PL) que propõe serviços especializados em dislexia voltados a alunos da rede municipal de ensino.

Tende a atribuir a um suposto distúrbio neurológico genético dos alunos a explicação para suas dificuldades em aprender a ler e a escrever produzidas, essencialmente, por problemas no ensino, estigmatizando-os.

Duplica ações de competência da Saúde, do SUS, dentro de uma concepção retrógrada de assistência à Saúde e de relações entre Saúde e Educação.

É um dos diversos Projetos de Lei que estão em trâmites no Brasil centrados na dislexia, sem questioná-la. É parte do processo de patologização de questões sociais e de dificuldades escolares em especial.

É preciso que a sociedade seja informada sobre o quanto o conceito de dislexia é polêmico, que defenda suas crianças e adolescentes, a Educação e as conquistas do SUS.

O texto do referido PL está no site da Câmara Municipal de São Paulo.

View petition

At Brunswick Sr. High School in Lawrenceville, Va racial discrimination is a cataclysm.

Being that the school is predominantly black and only about 18% white, of course there will be racial issues. However, I for one have experienced it myself when i first came here. Blacks on my bus and in the school were harassing me even though i had not done or said anything to them. They would throw things at me, tell me where i could and could not sit, threatin to beat me up, and much much more.

I personally have gone to the principal, Mr. Whiting, as have my father and step mom many different times and he has not done anything about the issue and presumably just as mainstream, formidable, disconcerting, and indifferent.

This happens on a daily basis, not only to me, but to most other white people as well, and nothing is being done to stop it. We NEED Your HELP to STOP ALL Racism in this school before someone gets hurt even worse.

View petition

As it stands now, we as parents and teachers have no support from our government to help enforce and keep our youth in school.

There once was a law that everyone 16 years old and under had to attend grade school, otherwise a truancy officer & the family court would step in. Our youth know that they don't have to be in school. This has to change.

Our Parents and teachers hands are tied and our youth are slipping through the cracks. We see and hear it in the media every day. Our kids should be in school not running the streets.

View petition

School lasts too long for middle and high schoolers.

I say we abandon at least 2 hours and shorten it up. We have rights to our own lives.

I believe that we, as adolescents, should be able to spend more time doing what we decide to do by ourselves instead of being consumed in nothing but school type activities.

View petition

This petition is written due to the controversy concerning the U.S. Appeals Court decision Allowing Dr. Mary Hanna, a Boston-based physician to legally breach a contract to serve in the Army as a medical officer on the grounds claiming that she is a conscientious objector.

Dr. Hanna accepted fully paid medical education scholarship from the Army and in exchange for receiving that scholarship signed a contract and gave her promise to give 8 years of service to military even after being given a promise by the Army that she would only be ordered to serve on staff as a physician in a military base hospital in Texas, she still refused to report to active duty.

View petition

Milwaukee Public Schools are implementing a 5 year action plan, including 8 goals and additional strategies, to work together and achieve more for students, families and the community.

http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/port/docs/Action-Plan-07.pdf

Incorporating the non-profit programs of Challenge Day, students and staff will have the opportunity to build a foundation of unity and create a a safe, supportive learning environment for all.

View petition

Hi, I am a substitute teacher and am really enjoying what I do. However, I can’t help but feel that the job is seriously underpaid. I currently make between $70 - $80 dollars a day depending on the School District that I substitute for. I have some figures (they are only approximations).

Amount of education required for a Michigan teacher: 6 years

Average pay for a Michigan teacher: $56,000 a year.

Amount of education required for a Michigan substitute teacher: 4 years

Average yearly pay for a Michigan substitute teacher: $14,000

Lets say that a substitute teacher has roughly half the responsibilities of a real teacher. I think that is a fair assumption. A substitute does not have to grade papers or make up lesson plans (only teach them). So a substitute does not take their job home with them. A substitute is only working during school hours.

So a substitute has 2/3 the education of a real teacher, 1/2 the responsibility of a teacher
but gets paid less than 1/4 the pay of a real teacher? I personally think a substitute teacher is worth at least half of a real teacher. It’s no small wonder that there is a shortage of substitute teachers. The education to pay ratio for a substitute teacher has got to be the smallest of any job in this country.

I personally believe that every school district in Michigan (and this country) should be required to take the average of their teacher's salaries including benefits and then pay their substitute teachers exactly half that amount.

View petition

Public school choice shifts power into our hands and away from the entrenched bureaucracies that are unmotivated to respond to families. Allowing parents to "vote with their feet" would increase parent satisfaction, change the unresponsive cultures of many of our schools, encourage the creation of new public school models with outside investment and even promote intelligent regionalization.

How can Rhode Island enhance and expand public school choice? First, the state should support the innovative public schools currently operating across the state that students actively choose to attend. Of the six Rhode Island High Schools recently named by US News and World Report as among the 500 best in the nation, four of them are "choice" schools. The fifth is in a district where public charter schools compete with traditional public schools for students. The state should support and promote its public charter schools. It should also support the creation of many more new, innovative public school models. Secondly, the state should allow families to send their children to public schools across districts whenever and wherever space is available. Such "cross-district choice" is already available in Minnesota, Vermont and in large urban areas of Massachusetts. All three states outpace Rhode Island on student achievement by wide margins.

Rhode Island consistently finishes in the bottom half of states on national public school achievement tests despite being in the top seven in per-pupil spending. A recent study names Rhode Island as one of only five states catagorized as "High Spending/Low Performance."

While, in theory, there is enough total funding currently in the system to support quality public education for all, it has been poorly distributed, mismangaged, and generally tied up in a costly and inefficient bureaucracy. Not nearly enough of that funding has been directly targeted at the education of children.

Rhode Island's position as 7th in the nation in state and local income taxes and 3rd in the nation in percentage of public education costs paid for through local property tax revenue, combined with the current state of Rhode Island's large budget deficits, make major capital investments in public education unlikely.

Given the realities described above, the best catalyst for improved public education in Rhode Island is an expansion of the public school options available to Rhode Island families.

All children should have the opportunity to attend a public school in which they learn, achieve and grow. Every Rhode Island parent deserves quality public school options.

For Spanish and Portuguese translation of this petition, please visit www.rifpso.org

View petition

Sociology of Sexuality (Soc 69) is, after Fall 2007, no longer being offered at UC Irvine.

Please sign this petition to ensure that this beloved course becomes available for future students!

Also, we will be sending this to the Dean of Students and School of Social Sciences, so please keep your language clean and appropriate. Thanks!

EDIT: Please note in the comments section if you are currently taking the class, have taken it, or are an alum! Provide your UCI email as proof that you are a student!

View petition

These days many workplaces insist on random drug tests to ensure that their employees are in a fit state to carry out their duties, sports people especially football players must submit to these tests as they are considered roll models for children.

This being the case should not the people entrusted with the education of our children and those who represent our voice in parliament and run the country also be tested and placed under the same scrutiny.

View petition