A Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton song collaboration was believed to be "too controversial" to be performed by students at a school.
First-grade students at Heyer Elementary in Waukesha, Wisconsin were set to sing 'Rainbowland' - a 2017 duet between Cyrus and Parton from the former's 2017 album Younger Now - before administrators for the school district banned the song ahead of the spring concert, per The New York Post.
On the setlist of the concert was Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World', 'Rainbow Connection' by Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Movie, and Dolly Parton's duet with Miley Cyrus. However, both 'Rainbowland' and 'Rainbow Connection' was barred from the song selection after the board of education deemed the lyrics to be contentious.
Listen to the lyrics of Cyrus and Parton's collab below:A dual language teacher at the school named Melissa Tempel took to her social media page to express frustration over the board for banning the song which preaches acceptance.
"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?" Tempel wrote on Twitter.
The teacher also shared lyrics of the 30-year-old 'Party In the USA' singer and her 77-year-old godmother's song, which read: "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."
"Let's all dig down deep inside / Brush the judgment and fear aside," the song continues. "Make wrong things right / And end the fight / 'Cause I promise ain't nobody gonna win (come on)," the lyrics continue.
Many parents were also bewildered as to why the songs were banned.
Sarah Schindler - whose daughter is a first-grader in Tempel's class - revealed to the Los Angeles Times that the school board had a "conservative flip" after the pandemic.
"With that have come some policy changes that have been causing some controversy in our community," she added, referencing prohibitions that include teachers restricted from having "any kind of political signage," wearing rainbows, as well as talking about pronouns with their students.
This seems to be true as Tempel responded to a user on her original post that wrote "It is Waukesha," with: "4 years ago we had an active diversity team and had @sharroky as our district equity consultant. Now we are Florida."
Another parent named Leigh Radichel Tracy told the publication that the song ban "has not in any way come as a surprise" as the school district "has really cracked down on anything LGBTQ".
She further explained that her 17-year-old daughter is in the marching band with many LGBTQ friends and was "hurt deeply," adding: "All that Miley and Dolly are saying is that they want to live in a world that is accepting, with no judgment and where people can be who they want to be."
"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," Tracy added.
On Thursday (March 23), Tempel announced on social media that Kermit the Frog’s 'Rainbow Connection' was reinstated in the setlist after parents and the local group Alliance for Education emailed complaints to administrators.
Becky Gilligan of the Alliance for Education sent a statement to People regarding the matter and penned that the organization "continues to advocate for our community".
"This is the most recent decision by a school district administration intent on stifling the diversity and denying equality to the community it serves, further ostracizing Waukesha in the eyes of the nation," she added.
However, there has been no update on Parton and Cyrus' collaboration, which is most likely still banned from being performed by first-graders.