At the January 29 school board meeting, SCAPE members Joanne Juhnke and Cris Carusi testified against the MMSD contract with ERS for consulting on a student services resource allocation model. The story was covered by the Cap Times:
Madison School Board approves $100,000 contract for staffing consultation
Here’s what they had to say:
“Given that we’ve got expertise right here in the district, I don’t see a need to spend our scarce dollars to bring in more out-of-state consultants,” Juhnke said. “Let’s listen to the folks on the ground who know what’s going on and start making the reality match the rhetoric.”
“ERS has questionable expertise in special education and restorative justice, but they have ample expertise in student-based budgeting,” Carusi said. “This is a hallmark of corporate school reform and the school choice movement, and it is not the right direction for MMSD.”
SCAPE opposed this contract. It passed on a 4-3 vote, with Mary Burke, Kate Toews, James Howard and Dean Loumos voting in favor, and Nicki Vander Meulen, Anna Moffit and TJ Mertz opposed.