I graduated from Watertown High School in Watertown, Wisconsin, and I still have family there. I visit Watertown often.
I did not know Jeri-Lynn Betts. She was a teacher in Watertown. She died on March 8, apparently from suicide, at the age of 56. Co-workers of Betts told the Watertown police that she was distraught and hadn’t been herself lately due to stress brought on by uncertainty surrounding recently proposed budget cuts.
The friends told police that they acknowledged among themselves immediately after Betts’s death that her stress was related to the controversy and protests surrounding the budget bills. Two of them contacted The Progressive magazine, which wrote a story detailing what is known so far about Betts’s apparent suicide.
The Progressive wrote the following:
Figuring out all the contributing factors behind a likely suicide is a complicated problem. Such deaths are in some ways incomprehensible—and always tragic.
But the report from the Watertown police gives some clues. A police offer took a statement from Susan Kemmerling, who worked with Betts as a special education paraprofessional for the past decade.
They then quoted the police report:
“Susan advised me that Geri had a long history of depression….Susan stated that the last several weeks had been ‘stressing her out’ due to the protests and the introduction of the budget repair bill and the uncertainty involved in the teaching world, as far as who was going to have jobs and what services were going to be cut. . . . Susan stated that Jeri truly loved her job and was about the most outgoing and bubbly person you could ever want to be around. Susan stated that everybody had noticed, however, the last few weeks since the introduction of the budget repair bill that Jeri was having a lot of difficulty.”
Another co-worker confirmed the stress that Betts was experiencing, and that Betts was worried that she was going to be forced out of her job.
The local coroner is conducting tests to see if Betts overdosed on her prescribed medication. Sadly, one of Walker’s proposals is to eliminate the requirement that Wisconsin health insurance carriers cover medications and services for mental health.
This really hurts me. Despite the cautious wording of the Progressive's story, right-wing haters have written some of the filthiest and most disgusting commentary I’ve ever read on the internet. I won’t repeat any of it here, but trust me, they’ve reached an all-time low.
Watertown had already endured a severe blow when Governor Walker derailed high-speed rail. Watertown was to have a new train station built on the line between Madison and Milwaukee, in a commercial area that has been depressed since an outlet mall opened near the interstate highway 8 miles away. Like many Wisconsin towns and cities, Watertown’s identity and much of its social network is largely built around its schools. This will not help the town, and I imagine that debate over Betts’s death will contribute to the increasing polarization evident across our state.
If you pray, please pray for Jeri-Lynn Betts, her survivors, and her co-workers.
Updated by Giles Goat Boy at Wed Mar 23, 2011 at 09:55 AM CDT
I just made a small donation to NAMI Wisconsin, a grassroots advocacy group for the mentally ill and their families. They do great work and they have been frequently endorsed by our Congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin.
If others are so moved...
http://www.namiwisconsin.org/