Oregon

Portland Public Schools bars teachers from ‘personal or political’ classroom displays amid anti-Israel clash

Published

4 days ago

September 22, 2024

Portland Public Schools bars teachers from ‘personal or political’ classroom displays amid anti-Israel clash

Portland Public Schools has adopted a new rule barring teachers from displaying their personal views on a “political or personal issue” in the classroom.

According to The Oregonian, the new guidance was “quietly” adopted under an administrative directive on August 24.

“Content on classroom walls, bulletin boards or otherwise displayed in the classroom must be related to the curriculum or district sponsored pursuant to [the district’s academic freedom policy],” the rule says. “Those spaces cannot be used for an employee’s personal expression whether that is related to a political or personal issue.”

Portland Public Schools told Fox News Digital that the new rule has been in the works for a year and “acts as a reminder to all of our student-centered mission and also reminds our staff to use District spaces for educational purposes.”

“The AD is content neutral, and we believe supports the goal of remaining focused on creating a rich educational environment for students,” the statement said.

PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO FACTOR IN GENDER IDENTITY, RACE INTO SCHOOL DISCIPLINE: ‘COMPLETELY BACKWARDS’

“Personal expression by employees is not in furtherance of PPS’s academic purposes. Academic purposes, of course, will vary depending on the course content. Displays should be focused on student’s needs and tethered to the curriculum, not on the personal views of the teacher,” the statement continued.

The spokesperson confirmed that the new guidance does not bar teachers from displaying pro-LGBTQ or pro-Black Lives materials in the classroom.

“The rainbow flag and BLM poster are district-approved symbols of inclusion to often marginalized students. Posters advocating for specific positions on political positions are not student centered in that they are not rooted in our educational mission or curriculum,” they said to Fox News Digital.

PORTLAND TEACHERS UNION PUBLISHES GUIDEBOOK ON ‘ORGANIZING FOR PALESTINE’ IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The new guidance comes months after teachers’ unions clashed with district leaders over whether teachers had the right to engage in pro-Palestinian activism in the classroom.

Oregon Educators for Palestine, in association with the Portland Association of Teachers “PAT,” released a guide titled “Know Your Rights! Teaching & Organizing for Palestine Within Portland Public Schools,” allegedly in response to teachers being censored and facing “discrimination and harassment” at “the hands of PPS District leadership.”

The handbook alleges that teachers were censored for their pro-Palestinian activism in schools, which included assigning students work “on the topics of Settler Colonialism and Zionism.”

Portland Public Schools responded to these accusations in June, saying in a statement, “It is our expectation that staff create these spaces by facilitating respectful, age-appropriate, and standards-based learning and contextualization of major world events such as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war or, before that, the war in Ukraine.”

“When these expectations of staff are not met – such as when a teacher engages in political advocacy while working – our process is to talk with the teacher about our expectations and direct corrections, removal, or replacement of inappropriate content,” the statement to Fox News Digital continued.

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According to The Oregonian, the new policy restricting teachers from displaying their personal views on political issues has already been put into practice.

Administrators at Grant High removed a “Stop the Genocide” poster from a social studies teachers’ doorway earlier this month.

The school’s principal reportedly said in an email the poster violated the “PPS policy regarding political speech.”

The Portland Association of Teachers has filed a grievance with the district over the new rule.

The union alleges the guidance conflicts with “contractual language on academic freedom, which allows teachers to introduce controversial topics that are relevant to their courses, and PAT’s right to post union related materials in schools,” according to The Oregonian.

Fox News’ Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this report.

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Oregon

College Football Games To Watch During Oregon State’s Bye Week

Published

7 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Press Room

College Football Games To Watch During Oregon State’s Bye Week

The Oregon State Beavers’ football team will be idle the weekend of September 28 after a 3-1 start to the season. Even though the Beavers won’t play a game, several of the opponents remaining on their schedule are active. Here’s how you can watch those games on Saturday and what you can expect to see.

Washington State Cougars @ Boise State Broncos – 7 PM PT on FS1

Boise State made their way to #25 in the AP Poll this week after a 2-1 start. Running back Ashton Jeanty is second in the nation in rushing yards with 586 through three games. The 4-0 Washington State Cougars hope to slow him down, and continue to rack up points on the offensive end after averaging 46.2 points per game so far this year. WSU come to Corvallis November 23 and the Broncos host the Beavers on November 29.

Fresno State Bulldogs @ UNLV Rebels – 12:30 PM PT on FS1

UNLV has had one of the strangest starts to a season in modern college football history. While they are 3-0 and up to #23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, their starting quarterback Matthew Sluka essentially quit the team this week over an unfulfilled NIL agreement. On top of that, they host a good Fresno State team whose only loss so far is at Michigan. UNLV make the trip to Reser Stadium on October 19. Fresno State aren’t part of the Beavers’ schedule this year, but are part of the group of seven Mountain West schools that will join the league in 2026.

Air Force Falcons @ Wyoming Cowboys – 7 PM PT on CBS Sports Network

These two Mountain West schools are off to disappointing starts to the year with Air Force at 1-2 and Wyoming at 0-4. Both the Falcons and the Cowboys are bottom of the conference in scoring offense and total offense. The Falcons are searching for their first win over an FBS team this season. Air Force host Oregon State on November 16.

Also…Ohio State Buckeyes @ Michigan State Spartans – 4:30 PM PT on Peacock

It’s probably fair to say that at least some Oregon State fans have a morbid curiosity about Jonathan Smith’s first season at Michigan State, along with the high number of former Beaver players on the Spartans’ roster. Michigan State are 3-1 to start the season after a four-point loss to Boston College last week. Now, the Spartans host the #3 team in the country with Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes.

Oregon

Oregon State Football Announces 2027-2028 Series With BYU

Published

17 hours ago

September 26, 2024

Press Room

Oregon State Football Announces 2027-2028 Series With BYU

The Oregon State football program announced Wednesday a series of games with the Brigham Young University Cougars. The new series will begin 2027 when the Beavers travel to Provo on September 25, 2027. The second game will take place September 9, 2028 in Corvallis.

The two teams have not met on the gridiron since 2012. Oregon State leads the all-time series 6-5.

BYU completed over a decade of FBS independence from 2011 to 2022. They recently moved to the Big 12 conference prior to the 2012 season. The Cougars are now in their ninth season under the leadership of head coach Kalani Sitake in 2024. Sitake has an overall record of 65-41 as the Cougars head coach.

Oregon

How Oregon State-Purdue fared for television viewership numbers

Published

1 day ago

September 25, 2024

Press Room

How Oregon State-Purdue fared for television viewership numbers

Oregon State’s Week 4 game against Purdue in Reser Stadium was viewed by 452,000 on The CW.

Three of OSU’s four televised games this season have been measured by rating service Nielsen. The three games – Idaho State, Oregon, Purdue – have averaged 1.21 million viewers. OSU’s two games on The CW are averaging 417,000.

The CW showed three football games last weekend. Friday night’s Washington State-San Jose State four-hour thriller was viewed by 542,000, while Texas Christian-SMU attracted 322,000.

Oregon State-Purdue had a kickoff time of 5:30 p.m. Other games that roughly started in that time slot were Tennessee-Oklahoma (6.27 million, ABC), Baylor-Colorado (3.64 million, Fox), Iowa-Minnesota (1.89 million, NBC), Portland State-Boise State (248,000, FS1), Akron-South Carolina (89,000, ESPNU) and Fresno State-New Mexico (55,000, truTV).

The most watched game last weekend was USC at Michigan, viewed by 6.32 million.

Oregon State’s next game is Oct. 5 against Colorado State, televised by The CW.

–Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.

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