'When will it end?' A Wisconsin school board ousts first grade teacher over inclusive song

14 July 2023

A first grade teacher was ousted this week by The School District of Waukesha, Wisconsin, over a song that uplifts diversity and inclusivity, The Guardian reports.

Per The Guardian, Melissa Tempel's students were set to perform the song, "Rainbowland," during a spring concert, but the majority Republican board banned them from doing so.

The board's decision comes after Tempel "was placed on leave April 3," according to WISN 12 News, weeks after the Heyer Elementary School teacher wrote a now viral tweet, saying, "My first graders were so excited to sing Rainbowland for our spring concert but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?"

The board claims Tempel's "defense of the Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton duet violated district policy because she did not speak to her supervisors first," The Guardian reports," while school administrators agree, "pointing to a district policy which essentially" bans "'controversial issues in the classroom.'"

Attorneys representing the board, WISN reports, argue "Ms. Tempel deliberately brought negative attention to the school district because she disagreed with the decision as opposed to following protocol and procedure and I believe that behavior is intolerable," said Waukesha School District Superintendent James Sebert.

Tempel disagreed, saying, "I thought that the fact that the tweet that I made, that 'Rainbowland' wasn't going to be allowed, was something that the public would be really concerned about and that they would be interested in knowing about it."

Additionally, according to The Guardian, the longtime teacher and her supporters "have maintained that she was exercising her constitutionally protected right to free speech but was punished because the song in question references rainbows, a key symbol of the LGBTQ+ community."

The Guardian's full report is available at this link. WISN's report is here.

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