Alliance Statements

Concerned about OOF? We want to hear from you.

November 17 2025

Serious Concerns about SDW Board and Administration Actions Regarding Optimizing Our Future Plan

Alliance Statements, Board Meetings, Optimizing Our Future 504 plan, board meetings, community, concerns, dual language, IEP, oof, parents, school board, school closures, students, teachers, transparency

The Alliance for Education in Waukesha (AEW) is a parent-led organization, founded in January 2021, that is dedicated to safe, healthy and strong public schools in Waukesha. As such, we have deep concerns about the future of the School District of Waukesha (SDW) after the school board’s approval of the “Optimizing Our Future” (aptly nicknamed OOF) E.1 plan last Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Over the next week and a half, we’ll be diving in to a multitude of concerns that we feel are important to students, families, teachers, staff, and all members of the SDW community. Those include: Concerns about […]

"The Alliance calls upon the community to continue to advocate for our students and schools, and to keep the focus on those in power. Let us learn from our diverse perspectives and collaborate to find solutions that work for everyone."

September 8 2025

The Alliance for Education in Waukesha Calls for “Optimizing Our Future” Pause, Impact Study, and Unity

Alliance Statements, Board Meetings, Optimizing Our Future, Press Releases board meetings, impact study, parents, school board, students, teachers

The Alliance for Education in Waukesha calls on School District of Waukesha community members to attend the next school board meeting on Wednesday, September 10th at 6:30pm to demand a pause to all “Optimizing Our Future” votes or action until an impact study is completed. We ask the community to stand united in efforts to ensure a bright future for all of Waukesha’s students. The district administration’s “Optimizing Our Future” options and short implementation timeline have raised significant alarm across our community. Major changes, including the closings, consolidation and sales of multiple schools, are set to occur by the start […]

View looking in to the Butler Middle School auditorium, where the seats are full and there are people standing behind.

November 29 2023

100+ Parents Attend Contentious Meeting About the Future of Personalized Learning in SDW

Alliance Statements administration, board meetings, compass, flight, middle school, parents, personalized learning programs, quest, school board, students, superintendent, teachers, transparency

(Español abajo) On Tuesday evening, over 100 parents, current and past students, and educators attended an extremely contentious meeting with SDW administrators about the future of the Personalized Learning Programs (PLP) in three of the district’s middle schools. Superintendent James Sebert, Deputy Superintendent Jen Gennerman and Director of Middle School Teaching and Learning Deirdre Garcia, along with the principals of Butler, Horning and Les Paul presented the reasoning for the discontinuation of the program. School board members Diane Voit, Mark Borowski, and Karrie Kozlowski were also present.

Logos for the Quest, Compass, and FLIGHT programs

November 27 2023

Alliance Statement on Discontinuation of Middle School Personalized Learning Programs (Compass, Flight, Quest)

Alliance Statements administration, board meetings, middle school, parents, personalized learning programs, quest, school board, students, teachers, transparency

The decision to discontinue Compass, Flight, and Quest is being made with no plan, no parental input, no data, and no alternatives. We encourage any family who has a student currently involved in the program, or who might want to have their student involved in the future, to please attend the meeting tomorrow evening to share your thoughts with district administration.

July 13 2023

Alliance Statement on Ms. Tempel’s Hearing

Alliance Statements parents, policy, rainbows, rights, school board, superintendent, teachers, transparency

The Waukesha School District terminated a teacher yesterday because the Board and Superintendent brought negative attention to the community.

June 14 2023

AEW Statement on School District of Waukesha Teacher Resignations

Alliance Statements school board, teachers

The School District of Waukesha is again experiencing a significant departure of high-quality educators. When high quality, experienced teachers leave the district, it is student learning that suffers most.

May 9 2023

Maestra Melissa’s Students Deserve Their Teacher Back

Alliance Statements, Teacher Appreciation Week parents, policy, rainbows, school board, students, superintendent, support, teacher appreciation week 2023, teachers, transparency

This Teacher Appreciation Week, there is one partner missing from our first-grade classroom at Heyer: Maestra Melissa. Her class has been without her, or any permanent teacher, for 25 school days and counting.

April 21 2023

Alliance for Education in Waukesha Responds to Letters from Dr. Underly, Legislative Leaders

Alliance Statements administration, parents, school board, teachers, transparency

The Alliance for Education in Waukesha (AEW) would like to commend Dr. Underly for her letter and her involvement. At the same time, AEW would like to respond to comments made by Dr. Sebert and local legislative leaders in their answers to Dr. Underly’s letter.

April 11 2023

Alliance Statement in Support of Melissa Tempel

Alliance Statements parents, policy, rainbows, school board, teachers

It is time for Ms. Tempel to be returned to her students and for the district to take accountability for starting this mess in the first place simply, because they wanted to keep rainbows out of a first-grade classroom.

April 10 2023

The Alliance for Education in Waukesha calls on the School District of Waukesha to End Bias in SDW Schools

Alliance Statements bias, discrimination, parents, policy, rainbows, rights, school board, students, teachers

STATEMENT ON BIAS IN WAUKESHA SCHOOLS

The School District of Waukesha (SDW) made national news for banning the song “Rainbowland.” This decision is a consequence of nearly three years of bad policy implementation by the SDW Superintendent and Board. Rainbowland is merely a symptom of an on-going pattern of bias, bullying of students, staff and parents, and failure to appropriately document and respond to incidents of discrimination and harassment.