'Rainbowland' case illustrates division in Waukesha School District and the changing culture there

Teachers are leaving the profession at increased rates due to a variety of factors, but some in Waukesha are resigning in protest over the administration and school board's vision for the district. On the other hand, thousands of Waukesha residents voted for the board members, and many say that vision is exactly what they want.

The district has been in national headlines for months after first-grade dual-language teacher Melissa Tempel spoke out against the district’s decision to ban the song “Rainbowland” from a spring concert.

School board members voted unanimously on Wednesday to fire Tempel, saying she violated district policies when she posted to Twitter criticizing the district.

The board’s ruling comes at a time when officials at all levels of government are debating what should be presented in schools and how members of the LGBTQ+ community should be treated in schools.

The Waukesha School Board, like many nationwide, is technically nonpartisan — but has become increasingly partisan in recent years.

In Waukesha, there has been heavy influence from the county Republican Party, which spun off the WisRed political action committee — a committee that spent tens of thousands on Waukesha School Board races in 2022, mainly on media and consulting. The group has not contributed to individual campaigns but has endorsed candidates in previous elections.

District officials said Tuesday that 125 teachers resigned in summer 2022. That is more than double the 57 who resigned in 2021. As of July 19, 81 teachers have resigned this year and 24 teachers retired. The number of resignations is significantly lower than 2022, however higher than every year between 2018 and 2021.

Waukesha Schools Superintendent Jim Sebert and School Board President Kelly Piacsek point to national trends with the increased rate of teacher resignations in recent years. "Teacher turnover is reaching all time highs all over the country," Piacsek said. "We shouldn't take that lightly, but I don't believe it's unique to Waukesha."

Many in education point to the effects of the pandemic and increased levels of stress for the rise in resignations nationwide. "We are not alone as a school district or employer in general," Sebert said.

Teachers say their Waukesha school's culture was partisan and uneasy

In interviews with the Journal Sentinel, several teachers said they are resigning because of the policies and the culture that has emerged in Waukesha Schools. The teachers said they were consistently under threat of discipline if they didn’t obey the policies, which they viewed as harmful to students.

Rusty Edlund resigned as a teacher at Waukesha South High School last month after six years. He said district officials have latched onto a narrative that teachers are indoctrinating students into “leftist” or "Marxist" ideology.

“It’s all a lie,” Edlund said. “It’s all this big PR campaign to discredit teaching and public education. And it exists to do only one thing, and that is to establish a sense of power, so that (conservatives) can disrupt publican education, and ultimately send their own kids to publicly funded religious schools, and the rest of the kids get the dregs.”

Edlund said the district forced his hand by changing the social studies curriculum to a uniform set of "whitewashed" historical events. Edlund said nearly every lesson he created for his students, from video clips to activities, wasn't able to be used anymore. When he did use them, he was disciplined.

For example, Edlund said he received a "corrective conversation" for straying from the curriculum on Paul Revere. He showed a clip that alluded to Revere not being the only important man on horseback delivering the news the British were coming in 1775. Many have written that Revere likely received more notoriety because of his political influence at the time and the popular 1861 poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."

Sebert has not responded when asked to confirm the "corrective conversation" with Edlund. Edlund said this form of discipline didn't exist before the changes in policy near the end of the pandemic.

A teacher in the Waukesha School District who views herself as conservative spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and asked that her name not be used because she didn't want to violate district policy by talking to the media. She said that although some teachers are upset that autonomous teaching is being removed, it's good that teachers can't express political views in the classroom.

The teacher said it was clear administrators have targeted rainbows. She said she had a rainbow in her classroom, but her decision to take it down was an easy choice: because it violated district policy.

She also said that the teachers who resign are giving up on the very people they say they want to support. She said if people consider certain populations vulnerable then they shouldn't abandon them.

Some say there is a pattern of discriminatory behavior in Waukesha

The parent group Alliance for Education in Waukesha, maintains there are many examples of district officials enacting policies that are influenced by national conservative positions.

The district removed the staffer assigned to handle diversity, equity and inclusion in 2021, and the position has not been reinstated. DEI initiatives and programs have come under fire from elected Republican officials, who argue such initiatives aggravate racial divisions.

Sebert often points to student diversity within the district as one of its many positive attributes. There is about a 2 to 1 ratio of white students to students of color in Waukesha. By comparison, that's slightly more diverse than the neighboring Elmbrook School District.

The alliance also points to Sebert's letter to staff in August 2021 announcing the district’s decision to enforce its Controversial Issues in the Classroom policy. Subsequently, posters expressing Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, Thin Blue Line signs, Pride and others were removed from schools.

An elementary kindergarten special education teacher was suspended in late 2021 for pinning up a Pride flag in her classroom and refusing to take it down.

In a recording of Sebert in a meeting with parents, he said, "a lot of it comes down to the rainbow-type stuff, making sure that isn’t in the classrooms.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin claimed in 2022 that the district's implementation and enforcement of its ban on controversial and political signs has not been applied consistently, resulting in increased bullying and potentially violating anti-discrimination laws.

Waukesha passed 'parental rights,' which is championed by the GOP

Waukesha conservatives have sought to restore "parental rights" in education, a trend seen on the state and national levels. Some Republican state legislatures have passed bills they believe restores rights to parents, and the U.S. House, which is Republican controlled, recently did the same.

Opponents argue these policies are aimed at harming populations such as the queer community.

The parental rights resolution approved by the Waukesha School Board in January prohibits staff from referring to students by any name or pronoun other the one consistent with the sex the student was assigned at birth, without written permission from parents. The resolution also says students must use the bathroom and locker room facilities and participate in the sports consistent with the sex the student was assigned at birth.

In a January interview, Carrie Kummrow, president of the Education Association of Waukesha, said the parental rights resolution mirrors Republican bills addressing parental rights.

But Sebert gave a simple answer when asked whether he is following a Republican playbook: "No."

Piacsek said she didn't know what guidelines or policies of the Republican Party a reporter was referring to when asked whether the board was intentionally following GOP initiatives, but stated, "I am living and leading with the values and principles that define who I am as a mother, neighbor and citizen in my school district community, and I will never do anything other than what I believe is right."

The dress code policy for staff, also adopted in January, prohibits clothing "that may be considered political, controversial, or divisive, or which is likely to distract from student learning, disrupt the school environment, or cause disharmony in the workplace." Some parents and teachers viewed the policy as an attack on staff members who displayed rainbows on shirts, jewelry and lanyards.

Policies are exactly what some people want

Many parents favor the policies, and most Waukesha voters elected conservative members to the board in 2022 and 2023. Of the nine members on the Waukesha School Board, eight were backed by WisRed.

The controversial issues policy caught the attention of Wisconsin state school superintendent Jill Underly during the fallout of Tempel being placed on leave. She urged Sebert and the school board to “change course now.”

However, four Republican state elected officials from the Waukesha area — Reps. Scott Allen and Adam Neylon and Sens. Chris Kapenga and Rob Hutton — responded to Underly in a letter saying, "We are proud of our school district and its actions, because they did what was best for its students and in line with what parents of the district wanted.”

Parent Stacy Keene is among those who favor the parental rights resolution. She told the school board in January, “We elected you to stay focused on the rights of parents, not ideologies. Parents are not a danger to their children and should never be treated this way. There should be no secrets, no secret conversations, no inappropriate materials in our libraries or on the iPads. No teacher should be in the business of keeping secrets of sexuality, gender.”

Still others have been publicly vocal in opposing the policies, and some believe actions such as the parental rights resolution will result in more teacher resignations.

“If this is put into effect, yes, it may help the parental rights — or in my opinion, the parental control — that parents want to exert, but it will make it so teachers are forced to out their students, and teachers aren't going to want to do this. They will quit and leave the district before they do that. And as a result of that, students will suffer," Waukesha resident Laurel Peterson said at a January school board meeting.

Ross Freshwater, a former teacher at Waukesha South, said the curriculum and textbook changes aren’t in the best interests of students. It was one of the reasons he decided to resign last month after seven years with the district.

“When I made my decision to resign in March, I’m thinking about how the curriculum that truly does a good job of teaching young people is being gutted,” Freshwater said. “I’m thinking about the existential bullying, done via communication with teachers, from the superintendent and the board.”

District officials provide the opposite narrative of the culture at Waukesha Schools. "Our students are thriving and successful," Piacsek said.

"We have talented, professional and engaged staff who show up every school day with their students' best interests in mind, working together with colleagues and families to help our kids accomplish great things. Waukesha is a great district, and we have a lot to be proud of.  We also have a steady flow of exceptional candidates who are seeking employment with us."

When asked whether he was concerned about the culture at Waukesha Schools, Sebert responded, "Our culture is one of academic achievement and rigor for kids which we are proud of."

Alec Johnson contributed to this report.

Drake Bentley can be reached at DBentley1@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Differing views on culture in the Waukesha School District