Author: criscarusi

On Monday, August 14, the Madison School Board will discuss proposed changes to the district’s Charter School Policy. The board is scheduled to vote on these changes at their regular meeting on August 28. Some of these changes could hurt our neighborhood schools. Because of this tight timeline, the public needs to reach out to the school board now.

The most concerning change in this policy is how MMSD charter schools will be funded in the future. MMSD charter schools receive the open enrollment funding per student, or $6,639 per student. The revised policy will increase this funding to the district’s average per-pupil cost (with no formula provided for calculating this cost). A January article in the Wisconsin State Journal said that the Madison School District spends about $12,500 per student. This level of per-pupil funding would provide an 88 percent increase in funding for MMSD charter school students. Additionally, the district would be obligated to provide support for special education students, English language learners and students eligible for Title I support.

How would this impact our neighborhood schools?

• Even though this money would remain in our district, the additional funds diverted to charter schools would no longer be available to the vast majority of students who attend our neighborhood schools.
• Charter schools will siphon students and funding out of public neighborhood schools across the district without changing the fixed costs of running those schools, or necessarily reducing the need for staffing and services in those schools.
• Savings from students leaving our neighborhood schools for charter schools won’t offset the higher costs of charter schools.

If the revised policy is approved, MMSD charter schools could receive more funding per pupil than any other “school choice” option in the state. In comparison, here is the 2016-17 per-pupil funding for other Wisconsin school choice options:

• Private school vouchers: $7,323 (grades K-8); $7,969 (grades 9-12)
• “Special needs” private school vouchers: $12,000
• Independent charter schools: $8,188
• Open enrollment: $6,639

Furthermore, the revised policy would no longer reduce district funding when private fundraising by MMSD charter schools brings the total revenue per student above 110 percent of the district’s average per-student cost. Also, the policy changes the charter school application review process so that most of the review committee members are hand-picked by the superintendent. As the recommendations made by these review committees strongly influence school board decisions about charter school approval, this change concentrates charter school decision-making power in the superintendent’s office, without increasing transparency, accountability or oversight by the school board.

Here’s how you can help:

• Send an email to the school board telling them you have serious concerns about the proposed revisions to the MMSD Charter School Policy. Talking points and board email addresses are below.
• Attend the August 14 school board meeting. The meeting is at 5pm in the Doyle Building auditorium. The charter school policy is the only agenda item. And, at this meeting you can…
• Speak to the school board about this issue by making public comments at this meeting. Instructions for making public comments are on the SCAPE website.

Here are some points you can include in your email or public comments to the school board. Please pick whatever points resonate for you, and keep your message brief.

• Thank the members of the Madison School Board for their commitment to public education.
• The revised Charter School Policy continues to limit the board to considering instrumentality charter schools that are ultimately governed by the school board and staffed by district employees. This is good, and it is extremely important that our district continue to only allow these kinds of charter schools.
• The board should not increase per-pupil MMSD charter school funding to the district average. Given that the MMSD provides charter schools with administrative services on top of per-pupil funding, it makes sense to give our district charter schools less than the $8,188 per pupil that the state provides for independent charter schools.
• Charter schools should not be given the power of unlimited private fundraising without a corresponding reduction in district support. We should continue the current limits on private fundraising by district charter schools.
• The superintendent should not have the discretion to hand-pick the members of charter school review committees. The policy should specify the composition of these committees.

Finally, the board is scheduled to vote on the Isthmus Montessori Academy Charter School contract this Wednesday, August 16, without providing an opportunity for public comments. The draft presented for vote at the July 31 board meeting had many problems and did not comply with the current charter school policy. A new draft has not been provided to the public or school board. Please let the school board know that public transparency is critical in all major decisions, including decisions about charter schools. If you wish to make public comments about Isthmus Montessori, we recommend you do this at the August 14 meeting.

Here are the email addresses for individual MMSD School Board members:
Seat 1: Anna Moffit, ammoffit@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 2: Mary Burke, mburke2@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 3: Dean Loumos, dgloumos@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 4: James Howard, jlhoward@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 5: TJ Mertz, tjmertz@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 6: Kate Toews, ketoews@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 7: Nicki Vander Meulen, nkvandermeul@madison.k12.wi.us
Student rep: Laura Nicholas, lnicholas@madison.k12.wi.us

You can reach all school board members (except the student representative) at board@madison.k12.wi.us. Email sent to this address will also go to district administration.

Thank you for reaching out to the Madison School Board, and for supporting public education. When we speak together, we are strong.

School Community Alliance for Public Education (SCAPE)
Madison Education Collective

The Madison School Board will vote on the Isthmus Montessori Academy Charter School contract at their regular meeting on Monday, July 31. This contract fails to resolve many serious issues that were identified in the review of the proposal for this charter school, including inadequate staffing and student services, a budget shortfall, and no way to ensure enrollment reflects the demographics of nearby neighborhoods or the district. Today, it is important to contact the Madison School Board and tell them to vote no on this contract.

In January, the school board moved to approve the proposal for Isthmus Montessori, contingent on resolving the issues described above. The contract not only fails to resolve these issues, it raises new ones (described below). For this reason, the school board should not approve the Isthmus Montessori contract on Monday.

A recent column in the Capital Times highlights many of the issues with this contract:
Marj Passman: Madison School Board should nix Isthmus Montessori charter school

Here’s how you can help:

• Send an email to the school board telling them to vote NO on the contract for Isthmus Montessori Academy Charter School. Instructions are below.
• Attend the July 31 school board meeting. The meeting is at 6pm in the Doyle Building auditorium. And, at this meeting you can…
• Speak to the school board about this issue by making public comments. Instructions for making public comments are on the SCAPE website.

Here are some points you can include in your email or public comments to the school board. Please pick whatever points resonate for you, and keep your message brief.

• Thank the members of the Madison School Board for their commitment to public education and closing gaps at all of our schools.
• It is important to stay focused on the contract. This is what the school board will vote on.
• A goal of Isthmus Montessori is to provide a Montessori option for all MMSD students, particularly low-income Black and Latino students who are not thriving in our public schools and who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford Montessori. However, the contract specifies that students will be selected through a random, district-wide lottery. This provides no means to ensure that demographics match surrounding schools, or the district as a whole.
• A diverse, inclusive school that accommodates English language learners and students with disabilities, and that may serve students experiencing trauma, needs to support those students with comprehensive services and adequate staffing. Isthmus Montessori would have about half the number of staff per student as nearby elementary schools (specifically, the schools in the Isthmus Montessori transportation zone). This staffing model unfairly benefits middle class children and families.
  • Only 1.5 student support staff would be hired, meaning there will be hardly any access to mental health services, nursing care, guidance counseling, social work, and behavior support.
  • The school will have no academic interventionists to help students struggling in math or literacy
  • Isthmus Montessori would have roughly half the special education staff per student expected to need special education services, compared to neighboring schools in the transportation zone
  • There would be 80 percent more students per English Learner support staff as nearby schools in the transportation zone
• While fine arts instruction is integrated into the Montessori model, the Isthmus Montessori contract does not provide for fine arts education from specialists. Isthmus Montessori students will not have the same opportunities as other MMSD students to be challenged by trained art and music educators. They will not have the chance to work in an art studio with facilities for painting, printing, ceramics and metal work. They will not perform with a band, orchestra or choir. This is particularly problematic for students whose parents can’t afford private art and music lessons.
• The Isthmus Montessori contract doesn’t provide resources for world language instruction. Students will enter tenth grade without having studied world languages, which most of their peers will have been offered starting in seventh grade, if not earlier. This will increase opportunity gaps in the district.
• Within five years of opening, Isthmus Montessori anticipates a budget shortfall of half a million dollars. This deficit will only get worse, and the budget doesn’t meet the criteria established by the MMSD charter school policy. There is a real possibility that Isthmus Montessori will take financial resources out of the neighborhood public schools attended by most of our families.
• A last-minute revision to the contract language exempts Isthmus Montessori from provisions of the MMSD employee handbook. This is a sharp departure from the school board and administration’s commitment to collectively make decisions with employees about working and learning conditions in our schools.

Here are the email addresses for individual MMSD School Board members:

Seat 1: Anna Moffit, ammoffit@madison.k12.wi.us

Seat 2: Mary Burke, mburke2@madison.k12.wi.us

Seat 3: Dean Loumos, dgloumos@madison.k12.wi.us

Seat 4: James Howard, jlhoward@madison.k12.wi.us

Seat 5: TJ Mertz, tjmertz@madison.k12.wi.us

Seat 6: Kate Toews, ketoews@madison.k12.wi.us

Seat 7: Nicki Vander Meulen, nkvandermeul@madison.k12.wi.us

Student rep: Laura Nicholas, lnicholas@madison.k12.wi.us

You can reach all school board members (except the student representative) at board@madison.k12.wi.us. Email sent to this address will also go to district administration.

Thank you for taking an active role in fighting for our public schools. We hope to see you on Monday, July 31. Together, we can make a difference.

School Community Alliance for Public Education (SCAPE)
Madison Education Collective

The MMSD Board of Education will vote on the preliminary budget for the 2017-18 school year at their regular meeting on June 26. A coalition of parents, school staff and community members have been working together since April to advocate for class size reduction in this budget. A class size budget amendment is now on the table. We need your help to ensure that this amendment passes and we begin to address the serious issue of growing class sizes in our school district.

Over the past few years, MMSD has been spending millions of dollars on new initiatives and administrative positions, while simultaneously cutting over 100 teaching positions. As a result, class sizes in many of our schools are unacceptably large. Small class sizes make for a positive learning environment and encourage the development of strong student-teacher relationships that are critical for learning. Moreover, small class sizes help staff manage behavior, student feedback and grading, and make the curriculum accessible and engaging for every student.

There is ample research showing the benefits of smaller class sizes. A couple of recent columns in the Capital Times highlight research supporting the benefits of small class sizes, particularly for low-income and minority students:

Jeff Spitzer-Resnick: Small class sizes = Big results
Jennifer Wang: Madison School Board should prioritize reducing class size

Here’s how you can help;

• This weekend, send an email to the school board supporting small class sizes and asking them to pass the class size budget amendment. Instructions for emailing the board are below.
• Attend a rally demanding smaller class sizes at 5pm on June 26. We’ll be at the main rear entrance to the Doyle Building. We’re hoping for a strong turnout, so please join us.
• Attend the June 26 school board meeting. The meeting is at 6pm in the Doyle Building auditorium. Please feel welcome to sit with our group – lots of us will be wearing red. And, at this meeting you can…
• Speak to the school board about this issue by making public comments at the June 26 school board meeting. Instructions for making public comments are on the SCAPE website.

Here are some points you can include in your email or public comments to the school board. Please pick whatever points resonate for you and keep your message brief.

• Include your name, role in the district (parent, staff, student, volunteer, citizen, etc.), and school(s) (if applicable.
• Thank the school board members for taking this issue seriously and listening to the many staff, families and community members who have been speaking out for the past two months about the problem of growing class sizes in the district.
• Tell them you are glad to see a proposed amendment to restore small class sizes in the district, and ask them to vote in favor of this amendment.
  The 2016 referendum gives the district additional budget flexibility that should be leveraged to address class size. Additionally, should the state budget include new per-pupil aid for our schools, some of this funding should be used to support smaller class sizes.
• The proposed class size amendment includes guidelines that prioritize high-poverty elementary schools, where reduced class sizes will have the most impact. That said, small class sizes are important at all grade levels and schools.
• The amendment also includes requirements for public reporting on how the funds for smaller class sizes are being spent, and how much progress is being made on class size reduction in the district. This reporting is important for budget transparency.
• Small class sizes matter for many reasons including closing achievement gaps, meeting the needs of English language learners, inclusion of students with disabilities, implementation of the Behavior Education Plan, school climate, and building positive relationships in our school communities. (Feel free to include research from the Cap Times columns linked above or the Class Size Matters website.)
• Small class sizes not only provide an optimal learning environment for children, they provide better working conditions for staff that, along with pay increases, will help our district attract and retain the best classroom teachers.
  If you have a connection with one or more MMSD schools, share a personal example that demonstrates the benefits of small classes or the challenges of large classes.

Here are the email addresses for individual MMSD School Board members:
Seat 1: Anna Moffit, ammoffit@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 2: Mary Burke, mburke2@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 3: Dean Loumos, dgloumos@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 4: James Howard, jlhoward@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 5: TJ Mertz, tjmertz@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 6: Kate Toews, ketoews@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 7: Nicki Vander Meulen, nkvandermeul@madison.k12.wi.us
Student rep: Laura Nicholas, lnicholas@madison.k12.wi.us

You can reach all school board members (except the student representative) at board@madison.k12.wi.us. Email sent to this address will also go to district administration.

Thanks so much for taking an active role in fighting for public education. We hope to see you on Monday, June 26. When we stand together, we win.

Madison School Community Alliance for Public Education (SCAPE)
Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI) Action Committee

On Monday, June 12, the Madison School Board will meet to discuss the 2017-2018 budget, including a proposed amendment to decrease class sizes and institute hard caps on class sizes at all grade levels.

Over the past few months, MMSD families, staff, and community members have come together to demand a return to reasonable class sizes. Check out a series of op-eds that have come out on this topic: here, here and here.

We aim to demonstrate strong support for reduced class sizes at the June 12 Operations Work Group meeting of the Madison School Board. Please consider attending this meeting at 5:30pm in the Doyle Administration Building (school board meeting calendar here).

Even better, please speak to the board about this issue by providing public comments at the beginning of the June 12 meeting. While you can speak for up to three minutes, a brief statement of support will send a message that small class sizes matter. If you are interested in speaking, you can find instructions on the SCAPE website.

Whether or not you can make it to Monday’s meeting, please take a few minutes to email the MMSD Board of Education letting them know that amending the budget to decrease class sizes and ensure hard caps is the right move. Brief email messages are the most effective.

Here are some points you can include in your public comments or email message:

• Include your name, role in the district (parent, staff, student, volunteer, citizen, etc.), and school(s) (if applicable)
• Thank the school board members for taking this issue seriously and listening to staff, families and community members who are concerned about growing class sizes in the district. Tell them you are glad to see a proposed amendment to institue hard caps on class size.
• Class sizes in the MMSD have been growing for years. The district has eliminated nearly 150 teaching positions since 2014 and has used new changes in state law that allows districts to remove class size caps at low-income schools. Make sure they know you support reallocating and/or adding funding to this year’s budget to reduce class sizes. The 2016 referendum gives the district additional budget flexibility that should be leveraged to address class size.
• Smaller classes are a proven way to address achievement gaps, particularly in the early grades and at high-poverty schools, and are important at all grade levels. You can find research to back up the benefits of small class sizes here.
  Small class sizes matter for many reasons including closing achievement gaps, meeting the needs of English language learners, inclusion of students with disabilities, implementation of the Behavior Education Plan, school climate, and building positive relationships in our school communities.
• If you have a connection with one or more MMSD schools, share a personal example that demonstrates the benefits of small classes or the challenges of large classes.
• Thank the school board members for considering the priorities of families, students, staff and the community when making decisions for our district, including budget decisions.

Here are the email addresses for individual MMSD School Board members:
Seat 1: Anna Moffit, ammoffit@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 2: Mary Burke, mburke2@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 3: Dean Loumos, dgloumos@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 4: James Howard, jlhoward@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 5: TJ Mertz, tjmertz@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 6: Kate Toews, ketoews@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 7: Nicki Vander Meulen, nkvandermeul@madison.k12.wi.us
Student rep: Laura Nicholas, lnicholas@madison.k12.wi.us

You can reach all school board members (except the student representative) at board@madison.k12.wi.us. Email sent to this address will also go to district administration.

Thanks so much for taking an active role in fighting for public education. We hope to see you on Monday, June 12. When we stand together, we win.

Madison School Community Alliance for Public Education (SCAPE)
Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI) Action Committee

Printer-friendly version (PDF)

This coming Monday, May 22, the Madison School Board will vote on a set of priority actions that the MMSD administration would like to implement before the board votes on the 2017-18 budget at the end of June. Administration is requesting early approval for adding positions—most of which are not based in classrooms—to support Pathways expansion, bilingual education, early learning and other priorities they have identified.

These budget items earmarked for early approval do not address a high priority overwhelmingly identified by district parents and staff: smaller class sizes. If they are approved on Monday, it will tie up close to $1.5 million in funding that could be used to reduce class sizes across the district, especially in high-poverty schools. The administration’s priority actions, and the specific actions targeted for early approval, are listed on pages 7-8 of this document.

Class sizes in the MMSD have crept upward the past few years. In response to declining enrollment and budget cuts, the district has eliminated approximately 140 teaching positions since the 2014-15 school year and embraced changes in state law that provide an option to remove caps on class size at low-income schools. As a result, some of our elementary classrooms have more than 25 students, middle school classrooms sometimes exceed 30 students, and high school classes may have 35 or more students enrolled. The 2017-18 MMSD budget does not currently include significant funding to restore the teaching positions we have lost.

Small class sizes matter for many reasons including closing achievement gaps, meeting the needs of English language learners, inclusion of students with disabilities, implementation of the Behavior Education Plan, school climate, and building positive relationships in our school communities. An op-ed recently published in the Cap Times, written by a MMSD educator, makes a compelling argument for reducing class sizes.

Before Monday, May 22, please take a few minutes to email the MMSD Board of Education letting them know that pre-approval of budget items is not the right approach. Brief email messages are the most effective. Here are some points you can include in your message:

• Include your name, role in the district (parent, staff, student, volunteer, citizen, etc.), and school(s) (if applicable)
• Tell them you oppose early approval of the administration’s priority actions (feel free to pick out specific actions you do not think should be considered for early approval, or to make a blanket statement that you oppose early approval of all identified priority actions). Approval of these priorities should be considered when the board votes on the full budget at the end of June. Early approval will make it harder to include meaningful class size reduction, as well as other changes identified through community input, in the final budget.
• While the priority actions identified by the administration are important, reducing class sizes should be a high priority.
• The 2017-18 MMSD budget does not do enough to address growing class sizes in the district. Smaller classes are a proven way to address achievement gaps, particularly in the early grades and at high-poverty schools, and are important at all grade levels (feel free to include reasons listed above).
• Tell them you support spending on smaller classes at our schools. The 2016 referendum gives the district additional budget flexibility that should be leveraged to address class size.
• If you have a connection with one or more MMSD schools, share a personal example that demonstrates the benefits of small classes or the challenges of large classes.
• Thank the school board members for considering the priorities of families, students, staff and the community when making decisions for our district, including budget decisions.

Here are the email addresses for individual MMSD School Board members:

Seat 1: Anna Moffit, ammoffit@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 2: Mary Burke, mburke2@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 3: Dean Loumos, dgloumos@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 4: James Howard, jlhoward@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 5: TJ Mertz, tjmertz@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 6: Kate Toews, ketoews@madison.k12.wi.us
Seat 7: Nicki Vander Meulen, nkvandermeul@madison.k12.wi.us
Student rep: Ameya Sanyal, asanyal2@madison.k12.wi.us

You can reach all school board members (except the student representative) at board@madison.k12.wi.us. Email sent to this address will also go to district administration.

If you are interested in providing public comments at the May 22 school board meeting, you can find instructions on the SCAPE website. The meeting is in the Doyle Building auditorium at 6pm.

Thanks so much for reaching out to the Madison School Board about this important issue! Together, we can make a difference.

Madison School Community Alliance for Public Education (SCAPE)
Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI) Action Committee