Parents Support 'Wonderful Teacher' Placed on Leave amid Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton Song Controversy

A teacher in Waukesha, Wisc., was placed on administrative leave after saying a song had been banned from a first-grade concert. Now, parents say they want to hold their school district accountable for what's been described as a "pattern of bullying."

After speaking out about her school district banning students from performing "Rainbowland" by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton, Heyer Elementary School dual language teacher Melissa Tempel was placed on administrative leave, according to a statement of support for the educator released by the Alliance for Education in Waukesha (AEW).

"This superintendent and board began the march toward marginalization last year," an AEW spokesperson said in the statement. "And it has only served to stoke fear and sow distrust in the Waukesha community, which has yielded a pattern of bullying against anyone who calls out the district's bias and harassment.

"Now Waukesha is a national laughingstock and the blame for that falls squarely to the feet of the district's leadership, not those who have the courage to hold them accountable, like Ms. Tempel," they added.

In response to PEOPLE's request for comment, Waukesha School Board President Dr. Kelly Piacsek said that "personnel matters are confidential in nature."

Speaking with PEOPLE before she was put on leave, Tempel, a Milwaukee-area educator of 23 years, shared that teaching "was kind of a natural career choice." Tempel, who has taught in Waukesha for the past five years, said she came from a family of teachers and worked at summer camps and as a babysitter when she was younger.

She first called attention to the song's ban on March 21. "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 wrote on Twitter.

The lyrics from the 2017 collaboration, which was featured on Cyrus' sixth studio album Younger Now, include: "Living in a Rainbowland / The skies are blue and things are grand / Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise / Where we're free to be exactly who we are."

With many in Waukesha and around the country showing their support for Tempel, "Rainbowland" climbed to its highest position ever on the U.S. iTunes charts at #51 last month.

Additionally, Cyrus'Happy Hippie Foundation made a donation in honor of the Waukesha first-graders, to Pride and Less Prejudice, which provides LGBTQ-inclusive books for pre-k through third grade classrooms. Although Tempel told PEOPLE the donation "was amazing," she doubts Waukesha's conservative policies will allow any of the books to reach her students.

In a March 31 email to parents, which was obtained by PEOPLE, Piacsek and Supt. Dr. James Sebert said the issue regarding the song "should have been handled at the school level" and in accordance with its employee concerns policy.

"This overall situation has been trying; placing undue burden on our school and district staff," they wrote in the memo.

After learning that Tempel had been placed on administrative leave, a number of parents spoke out in defense of the "wonderful teacher."

"She goes above and beyond to meet the needs of her students and engage them in learning," one parent was quoted as saying, according to AEW's statement of support. "I am deeply concerned that Ms. Tempel was removed from her classroom for standing up for them and what she knows is right."

Added another parent: "And the fact that the district did not address this issue with her and with the school principal directly, but instead called her out in a communication to the entire district community, is not only wrong but juvenile."

Students, parents and other supporters also gathered on Wednesday to sing "Rainbowland" with a choir ahead of a school board meeting, according to ABC affiliate WISN-TV.

Sebert previously said in a statement shared with PEOPLE that the school's principal and the central office administrator "determined that the song could be deemed controversial" based on their Controversial Issues in the Classroom policy.

The policy defines controversial issues as any topic "on which opposing points of view have been promulgated by responsible opinion; which may be the subject of intense public argument, disagreement or disapproval; which may have political, social or personal impacts on students and/or the community; and which is likely to arouse both support and opposition in the community."

After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed H.B. 1557, largely scrutinized as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, into law last March, many states have adopted similar pieces of legislation making it illegal for teachers to discuss topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity with students.

Tempel told PEOPLE that Waukesha has been "following the same patterns" and "doing a lot of those same things," noting a more conservative shift in policies during the COVID-19 pandemic when newly elected school board members quickly eliminated a mask policy in 2021.

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The board then began cracking down on "controversial" signs and symbols in classrooms like Black Lives Matter, rainbow flags and safe space stickers on doors, per Tempel, who said they also eliminated the district's equity and diversity workshops.

"This year was the big one where they said we can't wear rainbows anymore, and then they said we also have to use the [students'] assigned pronouns and the name that they were registered to school with," said Tempel, noting that parents were not made aware of this policy.

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"It's just created a toxic environment for not only the teachers like me who are upset about it, but for people that are being rejected as who they are when they go to work," she added. "And that's just horrible."

In their statement of support, AEW wrote, "It is time for Ms. Tempel to be returned to her students and for the district to take accountability for starting this mess in the first place simply because they wanted to keep rainbows out of a first-grade classroom."