Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus’ ‘Rainbowland’ was banned from a first-grade spring concert

“Rainbowland,” a track by Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus that celebrates acceptance, was just lately banned from a spring live performance set record at a Wisconsin elementary faculty.

Sarah Schindler’s first-grade daughter got here residence from faculty final week, keen to indicate her mother the songs she’d be performing within the spring live performance. She pulled up the songs on YouTube, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Great World,” Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection” from “The Muppet Film,” and a track she’d by no means heard earlier than — “Rainbowland,” by Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus.

Schindler stated they had been excited: “We love Dolly Parton!”

However a number of days in the past, her daughter returned residence from faculty, and as quickly as she walked via the door, she broke the information. “We will’t sing it anymore. We will’t sing ‘Rainbow Connection’ and we will’t sing ‘Rainbowland.’”

Schindler promptly reached out to Melissa Tempel, her daughter’s instructor, in addition to the principal of the college, and phoned the college district superintendent. She was advised the administration had nixed the songs, deeming them controversial.

Tempel, a first-grade twin language instructor at Heyer Elementary in Waukesha, Wis., seemed to be simply as upset as Schindler and her daughter. On Tuesday she tweeted, “My first graders had been so excited to sing Rainbowland for our spring live performance nevertheless it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it finish?”

In response to Schindler, the college board had “a conservative flip” lately following neighborhood uproar over COVID-19 mitigation methods. “With which have come some coverage modifications which have been inflicting some controversy in our neighborhood,” she advised The Occasions over a telephone name on Friday.

“A type of is a controversial subjects coverage saying that lecturers can’t have any type of signage that may very well be deemed political. … Dialogue of pronouns with college students was one other factor that got here up. And lecturers aren’t allowed to put on rainbows.”

Tempel wrote on Twitter “4 years in the past we had an energetic range crew and had @sharroky as our district fairness advisor. Now we’re Florida.”

Leigh Radichel Tracy is one other Waukesha resident with kids enrolled within the district who spoke with The Occasions concerning the ongoing controversy locally. “The College District of Waukesha has actually cracked down on something LBGTQ,” she advised The Occasions by way of Fb Messenger. “So this track being an ‘challenge’ has not in any approach come as a shock.

“My daughter is 17 and has been within the marching band neighborhood for 4 years. It’s a really welcoming neighborhood for youths which can be LBGTQ. She has lots of mates that establish as a part of that neighborhood so it hurts her deeply,” she continued. “All that Miley and Dolly are saying is that they need to stay in a world that’s accepting, with no judgment and the place folks could be who they need to be.

“It’s so unhappy that that is seen as a ‘controversial challenge’ by the College District of Waukesha. It’s a track about a gorgeous place of acceptance.”

Lyrics to “Rainbowland” embody the strains, “Wouldn’t or not it’s good to stay in paradise / The place we’re free to be precisely who we’re,” and “Let’s all dig down deep inside / Brush the judgment and worry apart.”

Schindler stated that she thought the fuss over the first-grade live performance was foolish, and that rainbows had at all times been related to springtime. She listened to the Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton track and couldn’t perceive why it might be thought-about controversial.

“I do know, Miley Cyrus type of has a previous, within the highlight with, you already know, speaking about drug use, and sexuality, and all of that,” she stated. “And Dolly Parton helps drag queens, and you already know, that’s one other factor going about in our nation lately.

“It looks like, due to these excessive insurance policies which have been put into place by our faculty board up to now 12 months or two, that administration, principals and lecturers are actually beginning to second-guess all of their decisions,” Schindler continued.

In response to a Thursday tweet from Tempel, Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection” was reinstated within the set record after mother and father complained to directors.

However, in keeping with Schindler, Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus’ “Rainbowland” stays banned, deemed too controversial for first-grade college students.

The Occasions reached out to Waukesha faculty district Supt. James Sebert for remark, however he didn’t instantly reply.