LOOKING THROUGH A PORTHOLE

Telling your truth that amounts to a lie

Cause having prior knowledge is hard to deny.

For the sake of optics you mislead

Saying things you shouldn't said.

Promises made know to be untrue

Since cancellation did not come out of the blue.

For acceptance no doubt you were driven,

All in hopes your misrepresentation would be forgiven.

DOLLAR DAZE IV - ACCOUNTING ALCHEMY

From all I've heard from multiple sources, see some people do like to talk to me they just don't want to be seen with me, KNOWATOM is dead despite some impressive MCAS gains in the Science portion. I would suggest the critical thinking skills learned in the intensive STEM presentations are responsible for gains in other areas. As I am sure those people with all those fancy degrees know, you have to learn how to learn.

Well I have heard KNOWATOM is just too expensive for LPS. Okay......well then explain to me why on the line for ELEMENTARY SCIENCE is the same as last year? What's up with that? Is that the cost of Asst. Director of Curriculum's much anticipated POWERPOINT replacement of KNOWATOM? Or is it just some vague SCIENCE SLUSH FUND.

MY NEXT BATTLE

Yeah, it was a strange night tonight down on BENNETT STREET.Not having my fill of giving public testimony I figured after subcommittee meetings there would be an OPEN-MIC before the regular HEARING that I noticed that they were suddenly moving right along on the meeting agenda.

That meant my spiel would be silenced. It seems for 0.015% of what we owe on NET SCHOOL SPENDING that we could restore the statistically significant and proven KNOW-ATOM science program. It has been money well spent.

So I think they just canceled the subs amongst themselves without a formal vote or public acknowledgement of the suppression of expression.

TEST DIRESS

MCAS is not a subject we teach
Yet test taking is the sermon we preach.

So we hire consultants to coach
Trapped in a reactionary approach.

When critical thinking is what we need
For the best chance for all to succeed.

Results will become the sacrifice
When successful programs we slice.

NO KNOW, AN IMPERFECT GAME

Money for raises
But not for a program with praises.

More for less
A budget in distress.

Orders from above
Cuts to what we love.

A message we need to send
The decision to rescind.

THE PROGRESSION OF REGRESSION

Never let it be said that I am not in awe of the Mayor's intellect. This latest political maneuver offers a lesson in learning the lessening of the landscape from the inside. Rather than be caught up with those CLIMATE CHANGE deniers, she is actually doing something herself to CHANGE THE CLIMATE (in the classroom that is).

You see if our kids don't understand science then they won't realize we got a problem. Face it, science just gets in the way of learning anyway. There is all this new stuff.

So if we choke the LPS budget so that programs like KnowAtom (which has shown remarkable success) have to get cut then all those kids will be none the wiser. While maintaining your facade of fiscal frugality, you hold the LPS budget in check.

Unfortunately for the 15,000 students it is a CHOKE-HOLD. The strangling of the science curriculum condemns LPS students to losses of leaps forward ad the return of problems past.

STEM TO COME UP SHORT

There are so many battles to fight. I do grow weary. I am not as young as I used to be. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank LPS  and the city for making it so easy to find them. Without your glaring and obvious abuses, I would have to waste my dwindling energies scouring the budget and meeting minutes for fodder to fight over. I might even have to make stuff up to get the party started.

Thank you for intending to cancel the KnowAtom program because it is such an easy argument for me to make. I mean, the benefits are there. Plenty of statistics are there to back the student's success. I can hear you now lamenting its loss.

Unfortunately with limited resources choices have to be made. You have to admit its kind of funny ironic (not funny ha ha) that we are talking budget cuts in one that is increasing by millions of dollars. Well I wonder where we could find the money to pay for this program that benefits  ALL the 15.000 LPS students as they pass through grades 1 through 8?

Let's look both inside and outside the budget. If we go inside, I bet if we added up all the raises of some of the senior administrative officials, it wouldn't be too far off the cost of continuing this program. To be honest though how can we expect the Superintendent to survive on a $200,000 salary? It's sometimes hard to negotiate that big SUV through the drive-thru lane of some of those fast food joints that have the dollar menu.

Okay, let's look outside the LPS budget for additional resources.. Well there was that nearly doubling of the Mayor's salary and with it concurrently the salaries of the 11 city councilmen. I believe that makes our Mayor the highest paid mayor of all the surrounding similar cities. Don't you feel proud to be #1?

Since we are already some $17 million dollars in debt because of NET SCHOOL SPENDING, the impending falling MCAS science scores are sure to speed up receivership. All of this will cement JUDY'S legacy. Cement should be for construction and not for shoes.