A first grade teacher who wanted kids to sing Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton’s ‘Rainbowland’ duet at a concert has been fired – after officials feared children would see the Hannah Montana star’s ‘inappropriate’ content on Google see.
The firing came nearly two months after Borough Superintendent James Sebert recommended that Tempel be fired because she tweeted criticizing the borough’s decision to ban the song, saying the song was unsuitable for children.
The school district has controversial issues in the classroom policy, which reportedly bans the use of Pride, Black Lives Matter, Thin Blue Line and “other posters or materials related thereto” from classrooms.
But during a nearly four-hour hearing, elementary school principal and Tempel’s supervisor, Mark Schneider, said the song wasn’t vetoed because of anything to do with the Pride rainbows.
Instead, Schneider claims the song was banned because the school didn’t want to risk young students researching Hannah Montana star Cyrus for her salacious online presence.
A picture of Tempel that she shared with her social media followers to show off her commitment to rainbow clothing – often in connection with the LGBTQ community
Schneider claims the song was banned because the school didn’t want to risk young students researching Hannah Montana star Cyrus for her salacious online presence
A tweet authored by Tempel following Wednesday’s panel decision
“If students google or research any of the artists, inappropriate images or videos may come up. “I just felt like there were better options for a first year concert,” Schneider said, referring to Cyrus.
He also said staff members shared Tempel’s tweet with him and that he was “baffled” by it because she never reached out to him to voice her concerns.
He then approved the song “Rainbow Connection,” noting that rainbows were “not at all” a part of his concerns.
Members of the Waukesha School Board voted 9-0 to fire first-grader Melissa Tempel after Wednesday’s hearing.
In late March, Tempel tweeted, “My first years were so excited to sing Rainbowland for our spring concert, but our administration has vetoed it. ‘When will it end?’ along with an image of the Rainbowland lyrics.
At the time of the incident that set off the cascade of events that led to her firing, Tempel was working as a first-grade bilingual teacher at Heyer Elementary School.
After Wednesday’s hearing, at which board members deliberated in closed session for more than an hour and a half, Tempel’s attorney Summer Murshid said she and her client were disappointed with the decision.
“This isn’t about culture wars or rainbows.” This is about constitutional rights, and Ms. Tempel has them like every other person in this country. “I think we are moving forward with the next steps and Ms. Tempel looks forward to enforcing her rights in a federal court,” Murshid said.
A timeline for filing a federal lawsuit is not immediately clear, but Murshid said a press release would be issued in due course.
In the hearing, which resembled a court case, county prosecutor Christina Katt argued that by suggesting the song, Tempel decided “to substitute her own opinion for the county administration’s judgment.”
She slammed Tempel for taking to social media to find out about the song’s ban instead of speaking to her boss, Mr. Schneider.
“Instead of speaking directly to Mark Schneider, Ms. Tempel launched a wide-ranging media campaign in which she questioned the district’s motivations and misrepresented the facts of her lying motivations in order to further her own interests and not those of her students,” she said cat.
Katt argued that the teacher’s actions caused “significant disruption and safety concerns,” including an increased security presence at the elementary school, which received “hundreds of emails, calls, and voicemails, many containing vulgar, obscene, and threatening language.” .
Schneider, the headmaster, testified that he consulted with the music teacher about song selection and ultimately felt there were better options. However, he noted that he had neither banned nor vetoed the tune outright.
Rainbowland is a Miley Cyrus song featuring Dolly Parton. School officials said they didn’t think Miley Cyrus was a suitable artist for a seven-year-old to hook up with
Principal James Sebert, who recommended Tempel’s firing to the board, stating that her actions undermined district politics
During the four-hour hearing, Tempel said she felt it was important to let the public know the school didn’t want kids singing “Rainbowland.”
Other witnesses called by the district agreed that Tempel’s actions undermined the interests of the district and were not consistent with district policy of escalating a concern up the chain of command.
‘MS. “Tempel intentionally drew negative attention to the school district for disagreeing with a decision rather than following protocol and procedure, and I find that behavior unacceptable,” Sebert said at the hearing.
“As I have said before, I believe the only advice I can give you today is to terminate your employment.”
Murshid, Tempel’s attorney, argued that the teacher’s use of social media in her free time was outside of work and that it would violate her First Amendment rights to fire her for her post.
“I thought that the fact that the tweet I made about ‘Rainbowland’ not being allowed was something that would really concern the public and that they would be interested in hearing about it,” Tempel told the Board of directors.
Importantly, in the tweet, which remains pinned to the top of her profile, she tagged her school district and let online users know where this happened.
Tempel describes herself as an “activist” in her Twitter bio. In late March, she wrote that she believed the school’s push against Rainbowland was “part of a broader effort to quell LGBTQ inclusivity,” and released the duet’s lyrics.
“The Rainbowland story is about much more than just a forbidden song. “The outcome of political opposition to LGBTQ+ inclusion and rights in schools is striking and tragic,” wrote Temple.
Outside the building where the hearing was held, two groups gathered to silently protest the hearing.
The Alliance for Education parent group in Waukesha rallied in support of Tempel. One attendee told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the issue was First Amendment rights.
The tweet, still pinned to the top of Tempel’s Twitter page, says authorities have undermined the Waukesha school district
Tempel tweeted the lyrics to the song she was asked to sing to her seven-year-old students
Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin
“The outcome of the political opposition to LGBTQ+ inclusivity and rights in schools is evident and tragic,” Tempel wrote in March, when the school’s principal vetoed the song
“We feel that Superintendent Sebert’s recommendation that they be fired and fired violates their First Amendment rights as employees of a public school district … We’ve seen those First Amendment rights attacked before, but this It’s like that. “Where the rubber meets the road,” said David Drigenberg.
Marcus Schroeder of Waukesha was part of the other group that was there to support the school board.
“The fact that they’re willing to take a stand and say, ‘OK, if one of our teachers doesn’t agree with the way we run our school district and she’s promoting the LGBTQ agenda.'” It’s encouraging that they oppose it, because most school districts won’t oppose it,” he said.
“I want to show that if there’s a school board that’s willing to take a stand on these issues, because there aren’t very many of them left, I’m here to support them too.”