Teachers In Crisis ... A Year Later

(gentle music) - Hello, I'm Portia Young.

Next on "10thirtysix", teachers in crisis.

We follow up with three MPS teachers to find out what's changed over the past year.

You'll want to hear what they have to say.

Plus find out how one local community is using our award-winning documentary and a public program on youth mental health, and a sneak peak at a new documentary, "Wisconsin Pride".

(gentle tune) We begin with a follow-up to our "Teachers In Crisis" special last May.

The school year is winding down but not without continued concern for the number of qualified teachers in classrooms across the country and here at home.

One of the biggest problems is retention.

A Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction report indicates that one of every three new teachers in the state will leave the profession in just five years.

In our special last year, three MPS teachers shared video diaries of their teaching days to help us understand what they have to deal with in the classroom.

Producers Scottie Lee Meyers asked those same teachers to do this again and found out one of those teachers is indeed calling it quits.

(somber music) - My name is Angela Harris.

I am currently a first grade teacher at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Elementary School.

It's an African-American immersion school here in Milwaukee and I have been there for seven years but I have been doing education for over 20.

- My name is Lukas Wierer.

This is my 15th year teaching in the Milwaukee Public Schools.

And I'm currently placed at Obama School of Career and Technical Education and my technical position is a culturally-responsive teacher leader.

- Rae Chappelle or Mix Chappelle to my students.

I teach fifth grade, so pretty much like all the subjects except for like your art, music, gym.

And yeah, I've been teaching there for four years now at Allen Field, sorry.

- It is Monday, April 24th and today I am going to the doctor for a follow up.

On Wednesday, November 9th, 2022.

I was violently attacked by a parent at the end of the school day.

So the situation just really escalated very quickly and I was grabbed from behind and so, you know there was a big melee.

I ended up on the ground obviously I went directly to the urgent care.

I've been on leave since November 9th.

I just had an MRI today because I'm possibly gonna have to end up having surgery on my neck.

They've made me exhaust my FMLA and my sick hours and I shouldn't have had to use either of those.

When I was hurt, I was hurt at work.

So this should be a strict workman's comp issue but it is not and nobody can explain to me why it is not.

- So in the last month I applied to a different school and in the the '23 -'24 school year I'll actually be a social studies teacher over at Riverside University High School.

I think for the better part of the last two or three years I've been a little, I guess I don't know what the word is maybe like unsatisfied professionally, just in terms of having a lot of self-doubt on whether I'm an an effective teacher here at Obama.

- It's Monday, March 24th.

I'm actually not at school today as you can see, I'm at home.

I called in today just cause I am struggling with my mental health.

Many teachers have been calling in.

If only you could see our whiteboard in the office where the secretary writes down everybody who's out for the day.

This year we've had the longest lists for the most amount of days.

It's bad.

Teachers are tired.

(somber tune) - Good afternoon.

Today is Tuesday, April 25th.

So what I've seen is I have really low numbers in the class too.

So I have a freshman class of about 34 students and I would say on a regular day I see about 12 of my freshmen.

Even though I know that I had seen others during the day they just opt out in different ways whether they go home early or just find ways to not be in class in the building.

So, check back in tomorrow.

- Hey, it's Tuesday, April 25th, end of the school day.

So here's our issue in fifth grade, we as fifth grade teachers are responsible for teaching human growth and development for health this year.

But today we were told that we have to give up our either science or social studies block.

Yes, that's right.

My students only get either science or social studies for 30 minutes each day.

If I want to, you know, teach both science and social studies in the same day, I have to take extra time to find a way to integrate that into reading.

Where do I find that time, you ask?

In the 45 minutes that I have to plan three outta five days of the week?

45 minutes is not enough time to create a truly engaging lesson.

So I take that time out of my weekend where I'm not getting paid.

(soft music) - Today is Wednesday, April 26th and I got a new student today.

And this isn't like, I mean it's not normal but like it's also not crazy to get a student to late in the semester.

I think probably the most common incidents of us getting students kind of mid-semester, especially beyond the midpoint of the semester and towards the end is because of disciplinary transfers.

I think the low was like 2017-18, when it was below 400 disciplinary transfers.

And last year in the '21 -'22 school year, there were over a thousand disciplinary transfers.

That was my Wednesday, I'll check back in tomorrow.

- Hey, it's Wednesday 26th.

In reading I have some students, a couple students who are still working on letter sounds.

And then on the other end of that spectrum I have a few students who are ready for more challenges.

Middle school level text, high school level text.

And between those two extremes in fifth grade, I have about 14 others that fall somewhere along that spectrum.

And I'm expected to create lessons and activities that meet each student at their appropriate learning level.

Emotional needs.

You know, I have some students in here who have lost parents within the last year or I have a student whose parent was deported not too long ago and that's just the stuff that I know.

Earlier today I had a student say loud enough for me to hear when he was talking to a friend that he wished he could kill himself.

But there were too many people at home.

I had to report that immediately, broke my heart to hear him say that.

It's my duty to make sure that our support staff know.

But our support staff is spread thin too.

Teachers are struggling.

Our mental health is important too.

And thankfully, big shout out to Julie, my therapist man, shout out to you because if it wasn't for her, I don't know how I'd get through this school year.

(somber tune) - It is Thursday, April 27th.

I had another job interview today.

This interview today was for a first grade position at West Side Academy.

I don't know what the future holds for me when it comes to teaching again.

Like, I mean I can't even talk about it without crying.

So like, it's just been a really traumatic year and I don't know how folks recover.

I don't know how long recovery takes.

I'm hopeful that one day I'll be able to approach teaching with the joy that I've always had.

- So today was a pretty good day actually.

One of the things I've really struggled with is then keeping students in class.

So by the end of class, I only had three of my 15 students that had come.

'Cause there's just this sense that they don't have to stay 'til the end.

And I don't think any of us really know what to do about it at any of the levels.

- Hey, us up it's the end of the school day on Thursday.

Suspensions, just they don't work.

The data proves it.

The data also proves that our discipline practices at MPS are very racist.

The student population of MPS is 50% black and African-American except when we look at the suspension data, black and African American students make up over 80% and a lot of that misbehavior is subjective.

So once again, in a district where 80% of the teachers are white and a majority of our students are black and brown people there's a disconnect there too.

As white teachers, not only do we need restorative practices training mandated, we also need anti-racist training mandated.

- It is Friday, April 28th.

Today I had therapy, which is always good.

This person's actually a grief counselor because there's a lot of loss that I've felt in my transition.

Teachers are asked to do so much with so little and there's often very little time for us to care for ourselves.

And I think that's why we see a lot of burnout happening amongst teachers.

I think we definitely could attribute a lot of the teacher shortage to the lack of district support.

- I feel like I don't have a whole lot else to say.

I think there's a lot of talk and there has been the last couple years, especially with referendum money and the Esser money about the mental health of students and like that is incredibly important.

Like we have a lot of students that come with a lot of needs, but like we also have teachers that are just really, that are really struggling and I think there's just not a lot of time for them to pursue...their mental health.

- This week was especially difficult because I turned in my resignation for next year.

I will no longer be teaching and I have a lot, a lot of complex conflicting emotions about that.

I don't want to wake up on a Sunday dreading the rest of my week.

I don't want to wake up and cry or get ready for work and cry or drive to work and cry or get to work and see a teacher friend and crying for them.

Like I was pushed to my breaking point this year.

But like I said, so many of these issues are systemic.

Putting more money into teachers' pockets is not addressing student behavior.

There is so much that is just not working in MPS and we have the power to change it.

We just don't have the leaders.

Leadership in MPS, leadership in the teacher's union is lacking.

A lot needs to change and we need to do it together.

Yeah, I don't know.

That's a rough note to leave off on, but I hope that kind of explained, you know why I came to this decision.

That's it for me today, for this week.

Thank you again Scottie and PBS for this opportunity.

I appreciate you.

- We did ask the teachers union to respond to the leadership issue but did not get an official comment by deadline.

We reached out to MPS for comment on the Angela Harris situation and the mental health of teachers.

The district responded by saying: "It is against district policy to discuss medical or personnel records.

MPS does provide a menu of free resources to employees that include mental health needs."

The mental health of our children and communities remains a priority.

One local community is using our award-winning documentary "Kids in Crisis: You are not alone" for an upcoming public program on this important issue.

Joining me now are two public health experts from the Oak Creek Health Department.

Kerry Wardius, who is a public health nurse and Sabrina Einhorn who is a public health specialist at Oak Creek.

Thank you for being here on "10thirtysix".

- Thank you.

- So Sabrina, I'm gonna start with you.

Youth mental health and the focus on it is really part of your healthiest Oak Creek initiative.

Can you talk a little bit more about that program and what it is?

- Yeah.

The healthiest Oak Creek Coalition was started in 2021 where a group of community members and organizations that are passionate about the health and wellbeing of the Oak Creek community.

We work to identify priority areas that are specific and relevant to Oak Creek.

We then develop work plans to address them.

We currently have two top priority areas that were informed using community input and data sources.

Those two health priority areas are substance misuse and mental health.

This month we are very much so focused on mental health given our upcoming event.

- Yes and May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

So thank you for doing that.

So Kerry, I'm going to turn to you a little bit.

What trends regarding youth mental health are you seeing play out in Oak Creek, especially post-pandemic?

- Yeah, so we're extremely fortunate to have members of our school district on our healthiest Oak Creek coalition because they have tremendous insight into the mental health of our youth, especially in the schools.

And what they've shared with us is that the trends in our schools mirror what's happening in Wisconsin and across the nation.

And so the Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey show that there was an increase in youth that had symptoms of anxiety and depression that increased from 2019 to 2021.

And also the percentage of students that reported seriously considering or even attempting suicide increased from 2019 to 2021.

Obviously we don't have the 2023 data yet.

It'll be interesting to see what that shows, but that's why we chose to focus on youth with this community event because we really wanna try to reverse those trends.

- Exactly.

So how do you think our documentary that shined a light on this topic, how do you think that will help with the programming, Sabrina?

- Yeah, this documentary really helps to show youth that they are not alone and that many of their peers are experiencing the same challenges and issues that they are as well.

And it serves to remind them that it is okay to talk about it with their peers and also to remind them that adults also are available to help them when they need and to just lend a hearing ear.

This documentary, we're excited about it so it can help us to engage our community in conversations about mental health.

We really want to create a community that is confident and comfortable talking about mental health not only their own mental health, but talking to others about their mental health, checking in on one another which is also why we are excited to host a panel discussion after the documentary screening.

It'll really help us to start that conversation which will hopefully continue long after the event.

- Okay.

So Kerry, what specifically in the documentary what resonated with you when you saw it?

- Mental health is a public health crisis.

The surgeon general actually declared it a public health crisis last year.

So we are seeing a lot more funding to support mental health initiatives across the state and across the nation, which is a good thing.

But I think we still need to work on the stigma of mental health.

We have come a long way.

There are more people reaching out for help but still we need to look at mental health the same way we look at any other aspect of a person's wellbeing.

You know, if you had something wrong with your heart you wouldn't ignore it, you would go get help for that.

Well, you know, our brain, which controls everything and our mind, we really need to be kind to our mind, because if we can get this right, we can really change the trajectory of a person's life.

- And two of the four young people who are in the documentary are going to be part of your panel discussion.

So I think, did their stories, is that really what resonated with you, hearing them in their own words?

- Absolutely.

And we're so excited, we're very blessed to be able to have them on our panel discussion because when you see 'em on film and then when you see 'em in person to be able to talk with them and actually one of the parents of one of the youth will be on the panel as well along with a professional.

So bringing the community together with those professionals and connecting youth and parents with those resources I think will help get people in the right direction.

- Definitely gets the conversation started in a really powerful way.

So the screening, again, that panel discussion.

Sabrina, who else is gonna be a part of that besides the two in the documentary?

- Yeah, like Kerry said, one of the parents of one of the individual's features in the documentary and then also a local health professional.

And then in addition to the panel discussion, we have also invited several other local mental health service providers to attend the event.

They'll be available for information resources before the documentary screening begins.

- Well thank you very much for what you're doing for the Oak Creek community.

Thank you for being here on "10thirtysix".

Sabrina Einhorn and Kerry Wardius from Oak Creek Health Department.

So again, the screening will include that panel discussion.

The program is open to the public it will happen May 23rd at the Oak Creek Community Center which is on South Hall Avenue.

Food trucks will be there at 4:30 PM and the screening begins at 5:30 followed by again that panel discussion.

If you would like more information please call the Oak Creek Health Department at 414-766-7950.

A new PBS Wisconsin documentary on the LGBTQ plus history in Wisconsin will air on Milwaukee PBS June 20th at 7:00 PM.

The two-hour documentary is a collaboration between PBS Wisconsin and Madison and the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Milwaukee PBS producer Scottie Lee Meyers spoke with one of the producers of Wisconsin Pride.

- Andy, thank you so much for joining us on "10thirtysix".

- Thank you so much for having me.

- So the beginning of the documentary features a historian who says, "History is more than the written record and important dates it's about people, even those who go unseen."

What made you choose this subject and what do you see as the film's core mission?

- Sure.

Well this project has been in the works for quite a long time and it comes out of our collaboration with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

And they published a two volume set by Richard Wagner, a very exhaustive LGBTQ history of the state which was just great source material.

So as that was being developed, we were developing this project and the mission really is to kind of tell those stories that have so often been hidden or untold.

And I think we know, it is really stories about people.

'Cause when you sort of think history, you might think in the broad sweep of history and sort of wars and treaties but really it's made up of individuals.

- Can you provide an overview on what the film covers over the course of two hours and how you went about selecting which stories to focus on?

- We start really with the, even before European colonization and with native attitudes towards, you know what we now call LGBTQ people.

And then we just have, more or less we follow a chronological history but finding really good characters to convey that time period.

So we go to small towns in Wisconsin, Cooksville Mineral Point where gay men did, visionary gay men who started doing historic preservation long before it became a trendy thing.

- Now obviously the documentary looks at LGBTQ plus history throughout the state, but I'm wondering in what ways the City of Milwaukee enters this story.

- Absolutely.

Well, Milwaukee has really quite a distinguished LGBTQ history.

We first go to Milwaukee in our program to tell the story of Ralph Corinio, who was arrested simply for wearing the wrong clothes and forced into a dress to stand trial for that terrible crime.

But then we really pick up in Milwaukee in the early seventies.

Milwaukee was really at the forefront of the movement.

A great organization called Gay People's Union was formed then.

And it did so much for the gay community in Milwaukee, founding health clinics and a phone line, a support phone line, and actually the first gay radio program in the country, first regularly scheduled gay radio program was a product of GPU.

Also in, you know, Milwaukee we have one of the very first efforts to protest against marriage inequality.

So Milwaukee is really at the forefront of the LGBTQ rights movement.

- Andy, what do you want the audience to grapple with to contemplate and ultimately take away from the film?

- Well, we've always had sort of a mantra that LGBTQ history is Wisconsin history and we wanna make it clear through our outreach and our effort to reach an audience that this is not an LGBTQ program, this is not a niche program.

This is for all Wisconsinites, this is for all our viewers because it's an important part of our history.

And for those people who are LGBTQ or maybe grappling with that, we want to give those kind of historical examples.

Like you say, we've been here all along, as Dick the title of Dick's book.

Those stories have been hidden.

They have been suppressed.

So finding yourself in history really is so important.

And that's what's the value of this program.

- Well, it was a eloquent mantra that you said before so I'll say it again.

This is not just LGBTQ history, this is Wisconsin history.

And with that, Andy, thank you so much for joining us on "10thirtysix" and sharing the larger tapestry of our past.

- Thank you so much, Scottie.

- The new PBS Wisconsin documentary is called "Wisconsin Pride".

It was produced in collaboration with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

It will be available online in June and will air on Milwaukee PBS on June 20th at 7:00 PM.

Back to Portia.

- Thanks, Scotty.

That'll do it for this edition of "10thirtysix".

Remember to check us out on all of our social media platforms.

We'll see you next time.

(soft music)