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AEW Statement on School District of Waukesha Teacher Resignations

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The School District of Waukesha is again experiencing a significant departure of high-quality educators.  According to the numbers released by the district last Friday, 24 more educators are leaving the district, if approved at this Wednesday’s board meeting.  The AEW is aware of other educators that will likely be included in an addendum to the minutes of the board meeting.

As a group of district parents ourselves, the AEW feels it necessary to inform parents and community members in Waukesha of this loss and about the actions of the board and administration that are contributing to educator turnover in Waukesha.

The huge number of departures this year continues the trend from the  ‘21-‘22 school year. Between April 1 and early June of last year, there were 54 resignations. During this same time period in ‘22-’23, there are  49. Contrast that with the ‘20-‘21 school year, which had only 28 resignations in the same period. In speaking with dozens of educators in the district over the last few months, AEW is aware that the current atmosphere in the district is not teacher-friendly. As one educator put it, teachers are “scared, demoralized, and tired of constantly looking over their shoulder.” 

Many members of the Waukesha School Board ran on the idea that there needed to be more focus on test scores, “basic” instruction, and classroom learning. However, the policy choices and actions of this Board and administration are leading teachers to leave the district en masse. When high quality, experienced teachers leave the district, it is student learning that suffers most. The experience of these teachers cannot be easily replaced. 

Over the last week, the AEW has received an open letter from a highly regarded and qualified teacher who chose to share their resignation publicly.  This letter exemplifies why many educators are leaving. His statement is provided below. SDW’s board needs to course correct immediately. They need to stop the politicization of education, trust teachers to do their jobs, respect the first amendment rights of all district employees, give raises and incentives commensurate with other local districts, and remove policies that are targeting and harming marginalized students, interfering with their ability to excel. 

The AEW will continue to passionately advocate for strong public education in Waukesha by holding board members accountable until they enact and implement better policies, or until those board members are replaced with new leadership that has the capacity to represent all Waukesha students and families.

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Part 2 of letter from Dr. Ross Freshwater: my convictions pushed me to respond with a firm, "Yes. Yes it is." That one minute exchange was followed up with my offer to finish up the year, which was accepted. I am far from alone in my refusal to embrace SDW board policies. For the simple reason that they are steeped in a zero-sum game between the politics of extreme right-wing ideologists who view their largely White, Christian, Hetero take on the planet as a threatened competitor who is locked in a winner take-all competition with the people and ideas of a much more diverse and modern world. A board member's recent inquiry into why I don't teach the 3rd amendment_-which protects Americans from the forced quartering of U.S. troops- in my Criminal Justice class, of all courses, reinforces for me that fact. Do they believe their child should be instructed to call the sheriff to report a crime if a colonel comes knocking on their door to demand his troops crash on their couch? Are they fueled by the paranoid idea that a president turned king will send Redcoats to their home? I take pride in the fact that my classroom is a place where students of many backgrounds and persuasions often engage in meaningful discussions about the prominent issues and questions of our modern world. Anonymous student surveys reveal that the young people in my class feel they are in a safe space where they are free to discuss important topics that are relevant to their lives. The fact that kids in Bernie and Thin Blue Line t-shirts stop by after 3:05 reinforces for me the notion that those student survey responses are true. The SDW board aims to crush that inclusive spirit with a curriculum that is a mile wide, an inch deep, boring to many students, and antiquated to the point that it is offensive to many more. Over 40% of South's students come from families with direct ties to developing countries, yet they are now forced to learn the vocabulary word, "Third World." Outside of Waukesha, that word was mostly retired over a decade ago. For good reason: It's offensive. What SDW students are not being taught is that Mexico has grown its economy to the point that it is the 15th largest in the world - a fact that could be a major point of pride for those students with ties to that country, who also comprise about 35% of the South community. The SDW board has instead chosen curriculums that stress the deficits of foreign cultures over their assets. When their family roots are framed as deficits within a class lesson, young people often shut down. When they are framed as developing assets, by teachers given the executive function to build bridges between knowledge and learners, those students' interest in the topic often comes alive. Throughout my time at South, I have felt supported by building and central office admin who have worked tirelessly to help my colleagues and I deliver a relevant and rigorous curriculum steeped in research on best teaching and learning practices and coupled with joy. Increasingly, those leaders' hands are being tied by a board that believes it should take an entire community down a regressive path. To use a metaphor, when I arrived I found a team that was building a well-designed Buick that was on the verge of being traded in for a Cadillac. That car was then pulled over by a new sheriff in town, commandeered, then traded in for an old Chevy with White Pride and Damn Straight bumper stickers slapped on the back. I could wait to be escorted to the city limits as first-grade teacher Melissa Tempel was for singing Dolly Parton's song about rainbows, or exit on my own terms. l've chosen the latter. To so many of the students, staff, and admin of SDW, thank you. You are fantastic. Best, Ross Freshunter Dr. Ross Freshwater PhD, Education Leadership & Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin MEd, Teaching & Curriculum, Harvard University

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