The revised disciplinary policy of an Oregon public school district takes into account the gender and race of pupils and is thus the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Several troubling policies have been implemented by Portland Public Schools (PPS), according to Parents Defending Education (PDE), that discriminate against students and teachers based on race and gender identity.
In a federal civil rights complaint lodged on Thursday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), PDE alleged racial discrimination in a disciplinary policy implemented by PPS.
Consistently disruptive behavior must now be addressed through a support plan set up in a collective bargaining agreement in November 2023, according to the new policy on disciplinary actions.
As part of the agreement, the district will implement a program grounded in research that aims to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline strategies by promoting racial equity, social justice, restorative justice, and trauma-informed practices.
Trauma, racial identity/presentation, gender attraction, disability, social-emotional learning, restorative justice, and other relevant factors should all be taken into account by the support plan.
A concerned third-party organization representing parents of school-aged children nationwide is lodging this complaint. According to the complaint its members submitted to the OCR, they are opposed to racial discrimination and political indoctrination in American schools.
Encouraging racial and gender parity in the district’s personnel is a policy priority. No educator will be moved unless doing so would bring the building’s underrepresented group of professional educators down to 30%. This includes transgender people, nonbinary people, and gender non-conforming educators.
Regarding racial balance, teachers will not be displaced if doing so would bring the building’s minority teacher percentage down below the student minority percentage or the District’s minority professional educator percentage.
As stated by PDE in the complaint, the Department is requested to investigate the allegations in the complaint as soon as possible, address any unlawful policies or practices, and grant appropriate relief.
The PPS oversees 45,000 students, while the PAT speaks for more than 4,000 teachers.
