[The song includes lyrics like “wouldnt it be nice to live in
paradise. Where were free to be exactly who we are.” ]
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FIRST GRADERS NOT ALLOWED TO SING ‘CONTROVERSIAL’ DOLLY PARTON
SONG ABOUT ACCEPTANCE  
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Anya Zoledziowski
March 27, 2023
Vice
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_ The song includes lyrics like “wouldn't it be nice to live in
paradise. Where we're free to be exactly who we are.” _

dolly parton en american idol, by Alejo Castillo (CC BY 2.0)

 

A Wisconsin school forbade first graders from singing a Dolly Parton
and Miley Cyrus song about acceptance at this year’s spring concert,
saying it’s too “controversial.”

The song, “Rainbowland,” celebrates acceptance and includes lyrics
like “wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise. Where we're free to
be exactly who we are.” 

It started earlier this month, when a first grader was brainstorming
songs to perform for the spring concert at Heyer Elementary. Her
mother, Sarah Schindler, said that her list included
“Rainbowland,” as well as Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful
World” and Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection.” A few days
later, the girl told her mother that she was not allowed to sing
“Rainbow Connection” or “Rainbowland.” 

“Rainbow Connection” was ultimately allowed, but the Dolly Parton
song wasn’t, according to a teacher with the school district
[[link removed]].  

“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?” Melissa Tempel, a Heyer Elementary teacher—and Schindler’s
daughter’s teacher—tweeted
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week. 

“4 years ago we had an active diversity team,” Tempel said
in another tweet
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we are Florida.” 

Some critics believe the songs were banned as part of a greater
crackdown within the school district on LGBTQ issues. One Waukesha
resident, Leigh Radichel Tracy, whose children are in the same school
district, told the _Times _that “the School District of Waukesha
has really cracked down on anything LBGTQ.”

“It’s so sad that this is seen as a ‘controversial issue’ by
the School District of Waukesha. It’s a song about a beautiful place
of acceptance,” she said.  

Schindler reportedly reached out to her daughter’s teacher, the
school principal at Heyer Elementary, and the school district of
Waukesha. Rainbows are often associated with pride, but Schindler said
in a comment to the Times that rainbows are also associated with
springtime. She said she doesn’t understand why the song would be
controversial. “We love Dolly Parton!” Schindler told the 
[[link removed]]_Los
Angeles Times.
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In a statement sent to VICE News, Kelly Piacsek, the Waukesha school
board’s president, said that the song “could be deemed
controversial” in accordance with the district's "Controversial
Issues in the Classroom” policy. According to the school board, when
the music teacher went to the principal “to determine if the
[Rainbowland] would be acceptable to use in a first grade concert,”
The principal then asked the music teacher to pick a different song. 

“Rainbow Connection will be performed as part of the upcoming first
grade music concert along with other pieces of music,” the statement
says. “This entire matter has been reviewed and the outcomes are
fully supported by the Superintendent.”

The statement also said the board of education wasn’t involved in
the matter. 

Wisconsin isn’t the only state where there’s been a crackdown on
LGBTQ people. Anti-LGBTQ sentiment has swept parts of the U.S.,
with hundreds of bills [[link removed]] that would
restrict LGBTQ rights introduced this year alone. GOP politicians are
targeting trans healthcare, LGBTQ students in schools, and drag
queens, and more. 

_This story has been updated with comment from the Waukesha school
board._

Anya Zoledziowski
[[link removed]] is an
award-winning staff reporter at VICE World News. Her reporting focuses
on a wide-range of social justice issues, including Indigenous
affairs, race, politics, sex worker rights, and the disproportionate
harm experienced by racialized communities as the climate crisis
worsens. She graduated top of her class from the University of British
Columbia Master of Journalism program in 2018, and has since won
multiple awards for her investigative reporting delving into hate
crimes targeting Indigenous women at the hands of transient workers
who move into “man camps,” temporary housing units near resource
extraction sites. She also won the CAJ Reconciliation Award in 2021
for her Indigenous affairs reporting. Prior to working at VICE, she
was with CBC, now defunct StarMetro Calgary, and freelanced all
over. 

* Dolly Parton
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* Raising Children
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* public schools
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* Wisconsin
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