WAUKESHA, Wis. — The fired Waukesha elementary school teacher at the center of the "Rainbowland" song controversy is asking a federal court to side with her. Melissa Tempel’s attorney has filed a motion for summary judgment. The School District of Waukesha and Superintendent James Sebert are now asking for the same thing.
It has been two years since Tempel has been in a classroom. In the spring of 2023, Tempel was teaching at Heyer Elementary when she posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the district stopped her first grade class from singing “Rainbowland” at the spring concert. It is a song by Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus.
“My tweet went viral. When I was asked about it later I told the media and anyone who asked me, all the history of their really anti-LGBTQ policies and so yeah, I was fired,” said Tempel.
Watch: Two years later, would the fired 'Rainbowland' teacher do it again?
In response, Tempel filed a federal First Amendment retaliation lawsuit against the School District of Waukesha and superintendent James Sebert. According to Summer Murshid, the attorney representing Tempel, her tweet happened on her private Twitter account, therefore it falls under the First Amendment protection.
“If you are a public employee and you are speaking on a matter of public concern as a private citizen—so not in your official job duties, just as a private citizen then the First Amendment operates to protect you from retaliation from your employer,” said Murshid.
In court documents, the School District of Waukesha said the song wasn’t pulled because it was about rainbows and rainbows being an LGBTQ symbol. It said, “Miley Cyrus was not an appropriate role model for first graders.” Also, that Tempel did not verify her statements before she did news interviews. Further, superintendent Sebert said Tempel didn’t follow policies and procedures and that is why she was fired.
“We treat public employees different than we treat private employees because they have a Constitutional right to engage in free speech,” said Murshid.
Since Tempel was fired she has been unable to get another teaching job.
“It has been two years and there definitely has been a shift in how people feel about speaking out and a shift in politics in general. If you could do it all over again, would you?” asked reporter Rebecca Klopf.
“I definitely would, and I would encourage people now to not be afraid to speak out. And even though I am really surprised I’m not teaching anymore,” said Tempel. “I want teachers and anyone in the public to exercise their first amendment rights right now. It has been really frustrating seeing the lack of that.”
TMJ4 did reach out to the school District of Waukesha and the superintendent for an interview; however, their attorneys did not respond to the requests.
You can watch the full interview with Tempel below:
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