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.

PLENTY OF GOOD PREACHING BUT THE CHORUS WAS PRETTY MUCH ABSENT

Went to an informative event tonight at the LYNN MUSEUM on the overuse and misuse of standardized testing. There was a video from a U.S. Senator, a invited guest speaker, and a panel discussion, The only thing missing were people who set the standards we are all expected to live by.

Since the panelist were from LYNN, SALEM, and PEABODY you would have thought the place would have been packed. There were empty seats available and I didn't even have to play my crippled card to find a place to sit. LSC member RICK STARBARD sat on the panel (and talked about a great documentary he took me and my old BFF to {old WATCHers will remember who}

Race to Nowhere, The Dark Side of America's Achievement Culture ...

Current LSC members CHARLIE GALLO ( Who is NOT seeking re-election) and DONNA COPPOLA were there LSC candidates NATASHA M& M, JARED SINGLETON ( we bonded a little over baseball a little, a budding bromance perhaps?) and MICHEAL OUK (my long lost twin of another mother) were also there to drum up some support while learning a little.

Too much of the presentation was about identifying the problem everybody already agrees exist. What do you expect me to do about it. There was no talk about action. Of course I had to bum a ride home. After I had gotten a commitment from MICHEAL to be my cabby, DONNA asked me and TRIPPY ( he was there for the cookies) if we needed a ride. I told her thanks but MICHEAL'S got this.

"Heck DONNA'S been a friend forever, I know how, why, and what she thinks. No chance to learn much there."

Anyway MICHEAL asked a good question. Good because I had the answer. Even better because I  was the answer. He asked, "How do people find out what's going on with the school committee?".

I laughed, "You're looking at it".

Sad, I know.