There are about 100 teacher vacancies across Milwaukee Public Schools. Six of those vacancies are at the Milwaukee Sign Language School, which houses the district’s sign language program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Staffing at schools has emerged as a statewide challenge
By Alex Klaus
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Lauren Dombeck remembers what it was like to have up to eight deaf and hard-of-hearing teachers at the Milwaukee Sign Language School.
Now, she’s one of only two that remain, splitting work with the other and covering several grades at a time.
“How do I teach a 5-year-old about their colors and counting … and now this fourth grader is working on multiplication?” Dombeck said. “How do you differentiate that kind of instruction simultaneously?”
Milwaukee Sign Language School, located at 7900 W. Acacia St. on the city’s Northwest Side, currently has six teacher vacancies. Milwaukee Public Schools has 100 teacher vacancies across the district.
Teacher vacancies are a challenge for school districts across the state, according to a 2023 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction report.
Challenges for deaf and hard-of-hearing students
Milwaukee Sign Language School hosts MPS’ sign language program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. About 20 students and faculty participate in the program.
Layli McLaughlin is one of five sign language interpreters at the school.
McLaughlin said staff is stretched so thin that it will be impossible to fulfill legally required Individualized Education Plans.
The situation at the school raised concerns from the Wisconsin Association of the Deaf executive board.
For many deaf and hard-of-hearing students, school is their only access to language and learning, the association’s executive board wrote in a statement to NNS.
“Children may experience delays in their linguistic, social, and emotional development, which may have lifelong impact,” the statement read.
The Wisconsin Association of the Deaf executive board said the issue isn’t just about language access, it’s also about cultural and identity development.
“Without access to strong role models and a clear sense of cultural identity, Deaf children risk not only language deprivation but also identity depreciation,” the board said.
A cycle of vacancies
Staffing challenges in the state are rooted in the struggle to retain teachers, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction report – something Milwaukee Sign Language School is familiar with.
At least three employees typically leave at the end of the school year, usually from the burnout of covering several positions at a time, McLaughlin said.
The school also has vacancies elsewhere – special education teachers, paraprofessionals and substitutes – putting an extra load on staff, McLaughlin said.
When the school doesn’t have substitutes, for example, McLaughlin said, paraprofessionals step in despite not having the qualifications.
District works to address vacancies
MPS is currently filling the six teacher vacancies at the school using staff from central services, said Steve Davis, MPS media relations manager, in an email to NNS.
“We took this action because we recognize that some schools like Milwaukee Sign Language School have more vacancies than others and this can create real challenges,” Davis said.
The district has sent 42 central service employees to fill some of the 100 vacancies across the district, according to Davis.
There’s also talk about consolidating the middle school in Milwaukee Sign Language School with another school to address the vacancies in those grades, but Davis said no plans have been put in place.
“This will continue to be a topic of discussion going forward,” Davis said.
A ‘manufactured crisis’
Ingrid Walker-Henry, president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, said the vacancy issue has been a “manufactured crisis” across the state for over the last two decades.
“The vacancy problem is something that leads back to the state and their lack of funding for public education as a whole,” Walker-Henry said.
Another issue, Walker-Henry said, is that schools with vacancies often lack leaders who are responsive or supportive of staff. This, combined with a growing anti-teacher culture, has exacerbated the vacancy problem, she said.
“When you have a leader who listens and who attempts to work with the students and the families, those students and those families? They stay at those schools,” Walker-Henry said.
Challenges for deaf teaching candidates
The Wisconsin Association of the Deaf said the current process of obtaining a state teaching license isn’t accessible to many deaf candidates, especially because licensing exams are often designed with an auditory focus.
“This systemic barrier prevents Deaf teachers –who bring critical lived experience and cultural knowledge – from entering the classroom and serving as role models for the next generation,” the association’s executive board said.
The association said MPS, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the community need to genuinely recognize deaf culture and deaf leadership, not just provide full and healthy language access.
“This requires systemic change: building training programs for Deaf bilingual teachers, reforming licensing processes to be equitable, and ensuring Deaf professionals are welcomed and supported at every level of the education system,” the board said.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.