The song “Rainbowland,” a duet by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton, was removed from a spring first grade concert at Waukesha’s Heyer Elementary School because of concerns it could be controversial and students who had planned to sing it and her teacher, disappointed and confused.
Melissa Tempel, a bilingual first grade teacher at Heyer, said she understood the song would be played at the concert, so she played it for her students.
“It’s such a fun song and they took to it straight away,” Tempel said. The students wanted to hear it “over and over again”.
Temple later found out that the song had been pulled. “We feel really bad because the kids were so excited,” she said. “It’s just very confusing. … It just doesn’t make much sense.”
A district statement said a teacher suggested the song to a music teacher for inclusion in the concert. The music teacher then asked the headmaster Mark Schneider. The statement went on to say that Schneider went through the song “together and by the way” with a central office administrator to see if it met the criteria of the district policy on controversial issues in the classroom. They decided the song would be controversial.
The school board was never involved, the statement said.
Waukesha School District Superintendent Jim Sebert told Fox 6 – which first reported on the incident – that the decision was made based on “whether it was appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students” and “social or personal.” effects” on them.
The district’s decision is the latest to erupt into a statewide dispute over education that is as much or more about politics as it is about learning and child development. Disagreements have erupted along conservative and liberal lines over how race, history and gender are taught and how LGBTQ students are treated in schools.
Recently, a Florida school principal was fired from her job in part because parents were not properly informed that sixth grade art students saw Michelango’s “David.” Some parents object to the fact that children of this age see a naked form. The director said a parent called the artistic masterpiece pornographic.
Earlier this year, the Waukesha school board passed a parent rights resolution that partially prohibits staff from referring to students by names or pronouns other than those that correspond to the student’s biological sex without written permission from their parents. The resolution also states that students must use the restrooms and locker rooms and participate in sports that match the students’ biological sex.
The district did not explain what was controversial
In the case of Rainbowland, no admin at least publicly declares what might be considered offensive.
When asked why she thought the song was withdrawn, Tempel told the Journal Sentinel, “I really don’t know. There are so many different things it could be. We have a controversial content policy in our county. And it’s a bit vague. So it’s hard to know what the district would or wouldn’t consider controversial.”
Tempel said she heard through the rumor mill that the song part of the issue had to do with Miley Cyrus being the performer. After playing the wholesome role of Hannah Montana on Disney Channel, Parton’s goddaughter has caused controversy as she continues to rise in popularity.
“Musicians often do things that are very controversial,” Tempel said. “So that would be a really odd way to approach the controversial subject. How would you sing just about any song? Everyone has something in their past that could be controversial.”
In 2017, Parton told Taste of Country that the song on Cyrus’ 2017 album Younger Now “is really about if we could love each other a little bit better, or be a little bit kinder, could be a little bit sweeter, in where we could live rainbow country.”
“It’s really just about dreaming and hoping that we could all do better,” she told the outlet. “It’s a good song for the time now.”
Some of the lyrics that Tempel particularly valued were: “Wouldn’t it be nice to live in paradise, where we are free to be exactly who we are. Let’s all dig deep, put aside judgment and fear right and end the fight.”
“That’s like the core of what we teach in school or what everyone else teaches,” Tempel said. “You can be who you are, you should be proud of how you look and how you study. And that everyone has differences that we all appreciate. And that no one is the same, so don’t be afraid to be yourself around other people.”
For the May concert, “Rainbowland” was replaced with “Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie. Other songs performed at the show are “It’s a Small World”, “De Colores”, “Here Comes the Sun” and “What a Wonderful World”.
Temple is a licensed bilingual elementary school teacher and a National Board Certified Teacher with a master’s degree in Cultural Foundations of Education. She has co-edited 2 books, Pencils Down and Rethinking Sexism, Gender and Sexuality with the non-profit organization Rethinking Schools, a publisher of justice and racial justice education.
She said the district’s policies would need to be clarified as we go along.
For example, she said she was told by her administrator that she could wear rainbow-colored heart earrings and also a Trans Pride pin. But she can’t have a Pride flag hanging in her classroom.
In 2021, Sarah Whaley, a special education teacher at Summit View Elementary in the same district, planted an LGBTQ pride flag in her classroom. She refused to take it off after district officials asked her to do so. As a result, the district suspended her for a day and removed the flag in her absence.
Drake Bentley and Alec Johnson contributed to this report.
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