Teacher Who Wanted To Include Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton’s "Rainbowland" in School Concert Fired

The Wisconsin elementary school teacher who wanted to feature Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton's song "Rainbowland" in a school concert has been fired after the school board of Waukesha, Wisconsin voted unanimously to terminate Melissa Tempel on Wednesday.

Catch me up: In March, Heyer Elementary School reportedly decided not to allow Tempel's first graders to sing the song at a concert. After the initial ban, Tempel tweeted, "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?" She also included lyrics from the song. After her tweet went viral, she was placed on administrative leave. District parents said the school made its decision because the song encourages LGBTQ+ acceptance and references rainbows.

On Wednesday, the school board voted unanimously, 9-0, to fire Tempel and stated that she violated three school board policies including not following the chain of command by going to the media before airing her concerns to supervisors, engaging students on social media and making statements that "sowed disharmony among [the] staff."

What they said: "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," Waukesha School District Superintendent James Sebert said. Tempel's lawyers argued that she was exercising her right to free speech, and the teacher shared that she "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."