Montgomery County Schools awards $454,680 contract to Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium

Incidents


On Nov. 10, 2020, Montgomery County Public Schools awarded a $454,680 contract to Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium as its “Anti-racist System Audit Consultant” for fiscal year 2021. The goal of the audit is to create “equitable outcomes for every student’s academic and social-emotional well-being.”

The award said: 

“The Anti-racist Audit will provide an opportunity to examine our systems, practices, and policies that do not create access, opportunities, and equitable outcomes for every student’s academic and social emotional well-being. Furthermore, the audit will provide the opportunity to examine not only the student experience; it presents the occasion to analyze policies and practices that impact staff, as well. Therefore, we will engage in a systemwide audit to examine the following areas: Workforce Diversity, Work Conditions, K–12 Curriculum Review, Equity Achievement Framework Progress, Community Relations and Engagement, and Evaluation of School Cultures.”

According to the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium’s website, they promote “equity in education to achieve social justice.” Some have raised concerns about the cost of this effort in the context of a projected budget cut of up to $155 million and the already-existing “Equity Initiatives Unit.”

District spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala said that the anti-racist audit is “critical work.” She added that “whether we are providing instruction virtually or in person, we remain committed to ensuring that our students’ academic success is not predictable by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, language proficiency, or disability. We will continue to strive in these efforts until all gaps have been eliminated for all groups.”

References

Taxpayer-Funded ‘Diversity & Inclusion’ Firm Filtered President’s Husband Nearly $300,000, The Daily Wire, March 10, 2021

MD School District to Spend Over $450,000 on ‘Anti-Racist Audit’, Washington Free Beacon, Nov. 11, 2020