The Food Program in Waukesha – a Two Year Retrospective
This week marks two years since Waukesha became the touchstone of an international discussion about feeding students in public schools around America.
policy
Alliance Statement on Ms. Tempel’s Hearing
The Waukesha School District terminated a teacher yesterday because the Board and Superintendent brought negative attention to the community.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ACT NOW TO PROTECT FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS IN WAUKESHA SCHOOLS
The Alliance is concerned about the District’s ongoing misuse of policy as a shield for its pattern of harmful decisions negatively impacting the students and school community and the potential impact of her termination on First Amendment rights, teacher retention, and the promise for more transparent communication with parents.
Another Open Letter to the School District of Waukesha from a Resigning Teacher
Another highly qualified teacher has publicly resigned from the Waukesha School District:
“SDW could turn its focus to a lot of real problems, among which include making sure every student has their needs met: a safe place to learn, a meal in their belly, and academic support to help them grow and thrive. Instead, the school district has a policy to steer this ship backwards, and it’s headed for a rocky coast.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SCHOOL DISTRICT OF WAUKESHA RECOMMENDS TERMINATION FOR TEACHER WHO SPOKE OUT ABOUT RAINBOWLAND
The Alliance is disappointed to learn that on May 15, 2023, after being on administrative leave for more than a month, Heyer Elementary School First Grade Teacher Melissa Tempel was notified that the Superintendent of the School District of Waukesha was recommending her termination.
Maestra Melissa’s Students Deserve Their Teacher Back
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.
An Exchange Between a Parent and a Board Member
Dear Superintendent Sebert and School Board members, The international hubbub arising from the bottom end of Larchmont Avenue–my spouse’s elementary alma mater–brings to mind the fable of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Made famous by Disney’s Fantasia, Goethe’s poem has plenty of interpretive layers that extend well beyond this controversy, but the image is provocative–for me at least: You created a monster with this “controversial signage” policy–and doubled down with an unnecessary (and unnecessarily cruel) “parental rights” resolution. And now, every time you try to cut the rainbow, you just end up with two rainbows. Then four. Then eight. And the next thing you know, […]
Alliance Statement in Support of Melissa Tempel
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.
The Alliance for Education in Waukesha calls on the School District of Waukesha to End Bias in SDW Schools
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.
Rainbows and spectrums are also well recognized symbols of neurodiversity and autism – An Open Letter
ALL children and families deserve to be welcome, respected and represented in our school district. It’s well past time to stop trying to remove any representation of one group; in trying to do so you are harming us all.