DOLLAR DAZE IV - CURRICULUM CASINO

Last year at a retirement party I asked ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM FOR SCIENCE, RICK HELD how did LPS pay for his position since the whole rationalization for purchasing the KnowAtom program was the ABSENCE and in LIEU of his position. I got some vague answer about the expensiveness of the program and the proposed phase in of his own program in the early grades. Okay, I said, we were getting quantifiable results with KnowAtom. Shucks, I think it even helped them win a NATIONAL contest or two,

Brickett Fifth-Graders Heading to Disney

       
and also I believe there was something from SIEMENS recently as well.

There is PUBLIC testimony from principals as well,

Lincoln-Thompson Elementary School began using KnowAtom in 2010, and it has seen remarkable improvement in its MCAS scores. In just four years, the school has improved proficiency in fifth-grade Science and Technology/Engineering by nearly 50 points.

“We went from 36 percent in the advanced and proficient categories in 2009 without KnowAtom to 83 percent advanced or proficient in 2013,” said Lincoln-Thompson Principal Helen Mihos. “That’s a dramatic impact.”

A Legacy of Good Citizenship Runs Deep at GE

There has been testimony of the program's virtue and importance on NPR radio program by LYNN officials
Lynn Officials Credit Lab Program For Students’ Science Bump

Then there was this as recently as last spring:

Latham said her job is focused, in part, on “giving students a reason to go to school.” Public schoolPROGRAMS like “First In Math” and “Know Atom” make math and science fun and the public schools, 

At the time surely she knew the KnowAtom program was going to be cut, EVEN before she had received the amount of the city's contribution. So was she being hypocritical and disingenuous to these EXPERTS?

Experts: Younger, Less-Educated Workforce Can Be Powerhouse

Surely at the time MR. HELD was hard at work on a plan to replace KnowAtom. You see after looking at the 2016 budget I noticed on the CURRICULUM page that last year MR. HELD'S salary was paid for out of the EDUCATION QUALITY grant so his $92,000 salary was covered by it. This year though it is not. So we not only pick up his old salary, we give him a $3000 raise. All to roll out an untested, unproven POWERPOINT, gambling our kids future for what (ALERT- SCIENCE TERM AHEAD) so the ADMINISTRATION can get a rush of TESTOSTERONE at our kid's future's expense?