An Oregon high school track coach claimed the school district terminated his contract because he pushed for the state to change the laws around trans-identifying athletes.
John Parks, head track and field coach at Lake Oswego High School just south of Portland, <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/lake-oswego-coach-says-district-ousted-him-after-pushed-change-in-transgender-athlete-law-osaa-track-field-peter-weber-john-parks-rob-wagner-mary-kay-larson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> a pair of letters to the executive director of the Oregon Student Activities Association and a state senator.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Lake Oswego high school track &amp; field coach was terminated after demanding fair competition for his female athletes.
He&#39;s taken his team to the state championship 3 years in a row.
The problem is his stance was way too reasonable, so they ousted him.<a href="https://t.co/qYLfHwZ9Y1">https://t.co/qYLfHwZ9Y1</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1803107581361025164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In his letters, which were written before and after the state championships in May, Parks argued that Oregon law, which currently allows trans-identifying biological males to compete with female athletes, is harming girls&#8217; sports.
Parks called for student sports in Oregon to follow the lead of other sports organizations like the International Olympic Committee that require hormone testing for trans-identifying athletes.
&#8220;My proposal to encourage transgender participation is to offer an open division that is so named so it doesn&#8217;t identify or discriminate but offers an opportunity to participate,&#8221; Parks wrote.
Parks said that part of his concern is for trans-identifying athletes themselves.
&#8220;I want them to be able to participate where they&#8217;re not booed,&#8221; Parks told KATU, adding that he saw the crowd boo a trans-identifying athlete who won a girls&#8217; event at the state championships.
The Lake Oswego School District&#8217;s communications director <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/lake-oswego-coach-says-district-ousted-him-after-pushed-change-in-transgender-athlete-law-osaa-track-field-peter-weber-john-parks-rob-wagner-mary-kay-larson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Parks is no longer employed at the district but did not give a reason, saying the district does not discuss personnel matters.
Parks is appealing the school district&#8217;s decision to terminate his contract.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to fight now because I got wronged,&#8221; he <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/lake-oswego-coach-says-district-ousted-him-after-pushed-change-in-transgender-athlete-law-osaa-track-field-peter-weber-john-parks-rob-wagner-mary-kay-larson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> KATU. &#8220;I am &#8230; fighting for girls, I&#8217;m fighting for female sports, and I&#8217;m fighting that it be fair for everybody.&#8221;
&#8220;When you come to championship events, these things involve scholarships, they involve things that they have an unfair advantage in at the highest level when it comes to physical things,&#8221; Parks said. &#8220;We&#8217;re not talking about political. This is not a political issue to me and never has been.&#8221;
A petition to reinstate Parks as coach has already <a href="https://www.change.org/p/reinstate-coach-john-parks-as-head-coach" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gathered</a> more than 100 signatures.
Riley Gaines, former college swimmer and women’s sports activist highlighted Parks&#8217; situation in a social media post.
&#8220;He&#8217;s taken his team to the state championship 3 years in a row,&#8221; she posted on X. &#8220;The problem is his stance was way too reasonable, so they ousted him.&#8221;
Female athletes at high schools and colleges in several states have spoken out against competing against biological males, some arguing that they missed out on awards and scholarships after losing to their male competitors.
High school girls have also been injured playing with trans-identifying males. Last year in North Carolina, a female high school volleyball player <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/female-high-school-volleyball-athlete-suffers-serious-head-injury-after-transgender-player-throws-abnormally-fast-ball/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered</a> severe trauma to her head and neck after a trans-identifying male player spiked a volleyball that hit her head.

Legs of a group of girls running on a track

High School Coach Says School District Ousted Him For Pushing Transgender Athlete Rule Change

Gender

Oregon

Portland

Sports

Transgender

Women's sports

The Portland Association of Teachers, an affiliate of the state teachers’ union which has 4,500 members, reportedly created an anti-Israel and anti-America curriculum for children as young as kindergarteners that says Zionists are “bullies” and blames Israel and the United States for “settler colonialism.”
Journalist Christopher Rufo, the author of <a href="https://manhattan.institute/book/americas-cultural-revolution-how-the-radical-left-conquered-everything" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s Cultural Revolution</a>, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/in-portland-the-intifada-begins-in-kindergarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published the information</a> and obtained the curriculum materials called &#8220;Teach Palestine!&#8221; Pre-kindergarten teachers are urged to use a workbook by the Palestinian Feminist Collective with a story of a fictional Palestinian boy named Handala who states, “A group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force and hurt many people.”
“Students are encouraged to come up with a slogan that they can chant at a protest and complete a maze so that Handala can ‘get back home to Palestine’—represented as a map of Israel,” Rufo notes.
Other leftist tropes are urged for the pre-kindergarteners, including a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BFil0gN8Ql0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> stating, “I feel safe when there are no police,” and a <a href="https://www.wokekindergarten.org/teachpalestine/visualhistoryinstazine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slideshow</a> that salutes the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas. According to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Institute_for_Counter-Terrorism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Institute for Counter-Terrorism</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_in_the_Second_Intifada">during</a> the Second Intifada from September 2000 to February 2005, 887 of the 1,137 Israelis murdered in the attacks were civilians.
“The recommended resource list also <a href="https://www.wokekindergarten.org/teachpalestine/so-you-made-it-to-a-protest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> a ‘sensory guide for kids’ on attending protests. It teaches children what they might see, hear, taste, touch, and smell at protests, and promotes photographs of slogans such as ‘Abolish Prisons’ and ‘From the River to the Sea,&#8217;” Rufo writes.
Once the children are in kindergarten through second grade, a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTGX9wjjqX4S2Au0c8gFe5ir18Ex6Tw73pcezd5VQxj5hph0MJVHeQh-VqtQ6PCPa1QtQg2Woxe0_ue/pub">lesson</a>, “Art and Action for Palestine,” is provided to teach the children to “connect histories of settler colonialism from Palestine to the United States” and to “celebrate Palestinian culture and resistance throughout history and in the present, with a focus on Palestinian children’s resistance.”
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“75 years ago, a lot of decision makers around the world decided to take away Palestinian land to make a country called Israel. Israel would be a country where rules were mostly fair for Jewish people with White skin,” the lesson reads. “There’s a BIG word for when Indigenous land gets taken away to make a country, that’s called settler colonialism.”
Among the “suggested materials” are “keffiyehs, flags, and protest signs.” The curriculum also <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/098/772/original/All_Out_Palestine_Toolkit_3.0.pdf?fbclid=PAAaaGnQ7Ub7uar7rFqlTaVoBEH4SJ7X0yF-AZNoAjumR5BZW2DTVtVhlsTmY_aem_AbjMoHW4HB3HGHoSsk0D2LO9UewWamevwaDlwAtfE0NGXhxeLy1RXQdsvP7XKxsqtxQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">includes</a> a pamphlet called “All Out for Palestine,” which states, “STOP THE GENOCIDE! END U.S. AID TO ISRAEL! FREE PALESTINE!” The pamphlet refers to “Zionism‘s long genocidal war on Palestinian life,” adding, “End all US aid to Israel and nullify all joint US-Israeli agreements and collaboration in arms trade and policing.”
“The pamphlet includes chants that teachers can adopt in the classroom,” Rufo points out. “Some imply support for militancy and political violence: ‘Resistance is justified when people are occupied!’; ‘We salute all our martyrs! mothers, fathers, sons and daughters!’; ‘Justice is our demand! No peace on stolen land!’”

Toddler is playing with a wooden toy block

Portland Teachers’ Group Offers Kindergarten Curriculum Teaching Anti-Israel Hate

Anti-Semitism

Education

Israel

Kindergarten

Palestinians

teachers union

Teachers Unions

U.S.

A pro-abortion woman physically assaulted a pro-life activist in Portland after she claimed that miscarriages are abortions and he disagreed.
As RedState <a href="https://redstate.com/bonchie/2024/05/29/watch-scary-scene-as-biden-rushes-a-reporter-and-shows-his-derangement-n2174791">reported</a>, the pro-lifer had a sign emblazoned “abortion is murder” when he was accosted by the pro-abortion woman, who was accompanied by her young daughter.
“Women are being airlifted from Idaho to Oregon right now because they can’t get life-saving emergency abortions,” the woman claimed. “Doctors are saying it’s only a matter of time before somebody bleeds out in a helicopter. Any day now it’s going to happen. We’re gonna have the first death on a helicopter of a woman being moved to Oregon for an abortion. Are you cool with that?”
“No, that&#8217;s very sad. What percentage is it of those women?” the pro-lifer responded.
“What do you mean what ******* percentage? All of them. That&#8217;s the only way they can get abortions, is by coming here,” the woman snapped.
“Every woman that&#8217;s getting an abortion is due to medical procedures?” he asked,
“No, most abortions are,” she claimed.
“No, they&#8217;re not,” he responded.
“My abortion was of a dead embryo. That&#8217;s most abortions,” she said.
“Okay, I&#8217;m sorry to hear that,” he answered.
Then she claimed, “That&#8217;s most abortions.”
“That&#8217;s not most abortions,” he countered.
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“Yes, it is, because have you looked at the statistics? Most abortions are clean-ups after miscarriages, and women can&#8217;t even get those. No, you&#8217;re a ******* moron because miscarriages are extremely common and most women opt to have&#8230;” she started.
“Miscarriages and abortions are different,” he pointed out. “What is an abortion?”
“No, a miscarriage is a medical abortion,” she insisted.
“No, it&#8217;s not. Let me educate you,” he offered.
That prompted the woman to take a swing at him and the woman filming the incident before he forced her to the ground as her daughter started crying.
“The woman is also lying about access to the medical procedure she describes,” RedState noted. “There is not a single state in the union that outlaws real doctors at real medical facilities from removing a baby&#8217;s body after a miscarriage.”
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pro life

Pro-Abortion Woman Assaults Pro-Life Activist, Says Miscarriages Are Abortions

Abortion

Assault

Social Issues

Multnomah County, Oregon, District Attorney Mike Schmidt — who oversees the progressive bastion of Portland — lost his re-election bid on Tuesday night to a moderate candidate who promises to carry out tough-on-crime policies.
Schmidt, the George <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/05/multnomah-county-da-mike-schmidt-campaign-gets-boost-from-progressive-philanthropist-george-soros.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soros-backed</a> incumbent, fell to Nathan Vasquez, who previously served as the Multnomah County deputy prosecutor under Schmidt. The leftist DA conceded on Wednesday with results showing that Vazquez had secured around 54% of the vote, Portland&#8217;s NBC affiliate KGW 8 <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/elections/multnomah-county-district-attorney-race-election-results/283-e5b76f7a-9497-488b-b432-08dc9deec27d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“It is looking as if I will not be serving another four years as Multnomah County District Attorney,&#8221; Schmidt said. &#8220;I have called Nathan Vasquez to congratulate him on his victory. While we do not always see eye to eye, I am committed to a smooth transition.&#8221;
On Tuesday night before the race was called, Vasquez said that he was &#8220;hopeful&#8221; that the direction of the community was about to change.
&#8220;This is a time where I think a lot of people in our community are looking for that belief, that hope, and I think tonight is going to be a change in that direction,&#8221; Vasquez told KGW 8. &#8220;And I really want to deliver that to our community in a way that feels positive and hopeful, so that everyone in this community feels included, everyone feels like they can have a safe community where they can go to parks, they can go down the street and can really enjoy this wonderful, amazing city and county that we live in, and I&#8217;m just so hopeful for tonight.&#8221;
Schmidt was elected in 2020, winning 77% of the vote. He started his role as the district attorney in August of that year, a term that began during the summer of the George Floyd riots that saw numerous businesses looted and vandalized and a police station <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/24/portland-protests-police-precinct-set-fire/3427950001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set on fire</a>. One of Schmidt&#8217;s first acts as DA was to <a href="https://katu.com/news/local/multnomah-co-das-policy-on-protest-arrests-focused-on-property-damage-theft-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">institute</a> a new policy stating his office would not prosecute George Floyd demonstrators who were charged with certain crimes such as interfering with a police officer, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, harassment, or rioting unless they committed “deliberate property damage, theft, or threat of force against another person.&#8221;
After the riots died down, Portland continued to face high rates of violent crime. Despite a decrease in violent crimes in 2023 in the city, the homicide rate in Portland remained higher than reported numbers prior to 2019, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Shoplifting arrests also skyrocketed by 88% in 2023.
Schmidt&#8217;s opponent Vasquez also promised to crack down on open-air drug use in Oregon&#8217;s largest city, a problem that has persisted since Oregon voters decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs such as fentanyl and heroin in 2020. Last month, Oregon Democratic Governor Tina Kotek <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oregon-recriminalizes-drug-possession" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a bill into law that again criminalized the possession of hard drugs.
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“The voters have made it clear that they are ready to take our county in a new and safer direction,&#8221; Vasquez <a href="https://apnews.com/article/portland-oregon-progressive-district-attorney-election-756eff76ca7391a18fd703417b788f94" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Wednesday. &#8220;I am committed to ending open air drug dealing and drug use while helping connect individuals to treatment, to rebuilding the broken relationships between the DA’s office and the community, and to ensuring that victims are the number one priority of my office.&#8221;

Mike Schmidt

Leftist DA Overseeing Crime-Ridden Portland Loses Re-Election Bid

Crime

District Attorneys

Election

While blue states in the West are losing police officers who are disillusioned with soft-on-crime policies, conservative Idaho is gathering them in great numbers.
The Idaho Peace Officer Standards &amp; Training (POST) reported that between 2019 and 2021, the number of officers from other states applying for certification more than doubled, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/blue-line-getting-thinner-west-coast-states-police-take-refuge-idaho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“They come to Idaho where they can enjoy their career and make a difference,” Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell stated. “They see that, in large part, our communities are supportive of law enforcement and public safety.&#8221; Lovell stated that officers from other states said they were fed up with policies that defunded police departments or decriminalized drugs.
“The Seattle Police Department has lost more than 700 officers in the past five years and is at its lowest staffing level since the 1990s,” King 5 <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle-police-staffing-shortage-action-needed-councilmembers-say/281-c3f43855-f877-4ba9-a37b-aeaf27e1ec67" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in March.
“We&#8217;re already at critical levels &#8230; We are really struggling to make sure we maintain all the calls that are impacting, not just to maintain the calls, but also investigating those calls and also doing the other type of tactics that actually make for safer outcomes for the community,” Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said.
“I think if rock bottom was ever a thing, we are probably here,” councilmember Rob Saka echoed.
Regarding Portland, Oregon, which has just 1.26 officers per every 1,000 residents, 48th among the nation’s 50 largest cities, the Manhattan Institute <a href="https://manhattan.institute/article/portlands-police-staffing-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posited</a>, “In the short run, the city’s particularly harmful riots following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, as well as its leadership’s embrace of the ‘defund the police’ movement, dealt a massive blow to police morale, driving mass resignations and retirements, which have continued to hamstring operations.”
“The LAPD is hemorrhaging officers, with more leaving the force than are joining it. Police Chief Michel Moore reported last week that sworn staffing had fallen to 9,103, down nearly 1,000 from 2019, the year that preceded the outbreak of COVID-19,” The Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/lapd-lost-nearly-1-000-120008003.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in April 2023.
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Former California Highway Patrol officer Seth Horst, who moved to northern Idaho, commented on the tremendous public support for the police in Idaho, saying, “That is so powerful for the men and women in uniform up here to have that backing. It&#8217;s a pretty phenomenal place to do the job.”
He said of the blue states, “The district attorney doesn&#8217;t back them, there&#8217;s too much liability, so the department won&#8217;t let them enforce the law, which is their job. And that bugs a lot of people. They get a job up here, oftentimes taking a huge pay cut because the pay here does not compare to a lot of states. But it&#8217;s worth it to them to raise their families in a place that is safe and has those old-school values.”

City of Moscow Idaho police department

Red-State Idaho Sweeping Up Cops Disillusioned With Blue West Coast States

Defund The Police

Idaho

Police

Seattle

Oregon has made possessing small amounts of hard drugs a crime again after a failed experiment with decriminalization.
Governor Tina Kotek, a Democrat, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oregon-drug-recriminalization-law-signed-governor-96e36ed60e999572bbf47c160b412a73" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a bill into law on Monday that makes personal use possession a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
The new bill rolls back Measure 110, which was approved by about 58% of Oregon voters in 2020, and scrapped criminal charges for possessing small amounts of any drug, even hard drugs like fentanyl. The measure was the first of its kind in the country.
Instead of criminal penalties, offenders were hit with a maximum fine of $100 that was rarely enforced. Drug users could also get their fine dismissed if they called a hotline to get an addiction screening, but in the law’s first year, only 1% of people who received tickets for drug possession called the hotline, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-health/ap-oregons-first-in-the-nation-drug-decriminalization-law-faces-growing-pushback-amid-fentanyl-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to state auditors.
In the years since Measure 110 took effect, however, the law has become increasingly unpopular as residents deal with public drug use in their daily lives.
Two years later, more than 6 in 10 voters said they thought decriminalization has made drug addiction, homelessness, and crime worse in Oregon, according to a May <a href="https://www.dhmresearch.com/oregon-voters-support-bringing-back-criminal-penalties-for-drug-possession/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from DMH Research. A combined 63% said they “strongly” supported or would be “somewhat” interested in once again criminalizing hard drugs.
Meanwhile, fatal drug overdoses in Oregon have spiked, driven by the fentanyl crisis.
The state is on track for 1,250 overdose deaths last year, <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/28/data-show-overdoses-deaths-rising-in-oregon/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20280%20people%20died,year%2C%20reaching%20628%20in%20June." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to data that is still being compiled. This is a stark rise from the 280 people who died of an overdose back in 2019.
Some of the worst scenes of the drug crisis come out of Portland, where addicts shoot up daily in broad daylight downtown.
In September, the Portland City Council passed a ban on using hard drugs on public property.
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However, Portland&#8217;s new rules have been in limbo while drugs were still decriminalized at the state level.
Mayor Ted Wheeler, another Democrat, has expressed support for Oregon&#8217;s new law, which takes effect on September 1.
&#8220;People are exhausted from feeling like they’re under siege. They want order restored to their environment,&#8221; Wheeler <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/us/oregon-drug-law-portland-mayor.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Although the new state law brings back criminal penalties for drug possession, it also encourages law enforcement to establish programs to send drug users to addiction and mental health services rather than the criminal justice system if possible.

US-HEALTH-DRUGS-OREGON

Oregon Recriminalizes Drug Possession

Drugs

Fentanyl

General

Opioid Crisis

A parental rights group has filed a federal complaint against public schools in Portland, Oregon, for taking gender identity and race into account when disciplining students.
On Thursday, Parents Defending Education filed a federal civil rights <a target="_blank" href="https://defendinged.org/complaints/ocr-complaint-portland-public-schools-2/" rel="noopener">complaint</a> with the Department of Education against Portland Public Schools, criticizing the district&#8217;s new discipline policy.
&#8220;Portland Public Schools has enacted several concerning policies that treat students and educators differently based on race and gender identity,&#8221; including &#8220;disciplining some students and not others, solely based on immutable characteristics,&#8221; reads the complaint.
&#8220;Accordingly, we ask that the Department promptly investigate the allegations in this complaint, act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices, and order appropriate relief,&#8221; the complaint says.
The new discipline policy is part of a collective bargaining <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/56/Tentative%20Agreements%20Combined%2011.27.23%20PAT.pdf" rel="noopener">agreement</a> between Portland Public Schools and its unionized teachers, which ended a nearly month-long strike in late November.
When a student engages in “continuous disruptive behavior,” school officials must develop a “support plan” for the student that “must take into consideration the impact of issues related to the student’s trauma, race, gender identity/presentation, sexual orientation, disability, social emotional learning, and restorative justice as appropriate for the student,” the agreement <a target="_blank" href="https://defendinged.org/complaints/ocr-complaint-portland-public-schools-2/" rel="noopener">states</a>.
“Teachers in Portland Public Schools are encouraged to discipline students based on their race and it&#8217;s appalling,&#8221; said Caroline Moore, vice president of Parents Defending Education.
&#8220;The teachers wanted to amend the policy so desperately that they included the provision in their strike agreement. This is corrupt and un-American. I’m anxiously awaiting the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation into this district&#8217;s unlawful practices,&#8221; Moore said.
The new disciplinary policy also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/portland-teachers-will-take-gender-identity-race-into-account-before-disciplining" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> suspending a student who threatens or harms other people. Those students may now only be removed from their classroom and sent to a “self-regulation space” within the school.
Previously, Portland schools <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-public-schools-changed-suspension-policy-teachers-strike/283-57387413-23d3-46e9-aea7-c532fd91b37f" rel="noopener">could</a> suspend middle and high school students for at least five days for extreme cases of students causing physical harm or threatening violence. Now, through the union agreement, the district has expanded its rapid response teams, which are supposed to intervene early in these situations.
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The agreement replaces the term “unacceptable” student behavior with “continuous disruptive” behavior and refers to “support plans” rather than “behavior correction plans.”
Student discipline has been a growing concern in Portland’s public schools.
Portland teachers have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-public-schools-changed-suspension-policy-teachers-strike/283-57387413-23d3-46e9-aea7-c532fd91b37f" rel="noopener">said</a> they are seeing “more students in crisis” with mental health issues, which can lead to fights.
In response, the Portland school district has been working to beef up its “restorative justice” practices over the last two years. However, after the pandemic, the district saw a spike in requests for the district’s restorative justice services, highlighting the discipline issue.

Rear view of teenage girls and boys learning in classroom

Parent Group Files Federal Complaint Against Portland Schools For Disciplining Based On Gender Identity, Race

Parents rights

Public Schools

Investigators said this week that a fire outside of Portland mayoral candidate and City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez&#8217;s home may have been intentionally set for political reasons. 
Early Friday morning, a car belonging to a family member of Gonzalez <a href="https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/multco-da-says-gonzalez-arson-could-be-politically-motivated/article_1c040f9a-b18a-11ee-a12b-9bd54e5c92b7.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was found</a> on fire outside of his home. After the fire was put out, police said it may have been arson. Gonzalez is a Democrat who ran for public office on a platform of cracking down on homelessness and increasing police funding.
“Acts of political violence and acts of political vandalism are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Commissioner Gonzalez and everyone else in a public leadership role is here to serve this community because they love this community,” Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt <a href="https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/multco-da-says-gonzalez-arson-could-be-politically-motivated/article_1c040f9a-b18a-11ee-a12b-9bd54e5c92b7.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
“Everybody is free to agree or disagree with me, the Commissioner, or any public servant or political candidate. But threats, vandalism, arson, violence, or any other form of illegal coercion will not be tolerated. If confirmed arson, we will find and prosecute those responsible for this act to the fullest extent of the law,” Schmidt added. 
Gonzalez thanked the fire department for their quick response after they called to report the fire. 
“Thanks to the prompt response of Portland Fire &amp; Rescue, the fire was unable to spread to any neighboring homes or vehicles. My neighborhood is filled with both families and seniors, and we must do everything in our power to protect them. I am grateful that nobody was physically harmed as a result of this incident,” he said. 
Gonzalez, who is challenging several other city commissioners to replace far-Left Mayor Ted Wheeler in 2024 is considered the moderate in the race. 
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During his campaign for commissioner in 2022, Gonzalez <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2022/10/20/rene-gonzalez-portland-oregon-city-council-jo-ann-hardesty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he wanted to hire hundreds of more police, increase arrests for shoplifting and trespassing, and get all of the homeless people off the streets and into a shelter. He was also attacked by fellow Democrats for his advocacy for schools to reopen during COVID.
“If you’re doing crimes in the city of Portland, I don’t care if you’re unsheltered, I don’t care if you’re an addict or suffer [from] mental illness,” he told Oregon Public Broadcasting in 2022, “You will start in the criminal justice system.”
Portland has been plagued by homelessness, drug use, and crime in recent years at the same time many officials have pushed soft-on crime policies. 
“I think Portland went so far Left that we see and feel that the future of our city’s at stake,” he said. “I don’t think Portland can continue to be a functioning city if it continues on the path it’s going,” Gonzalez said in 2022.

Fire Fighting

Authorities Suspect Pro-Police Portland Mayoral Candidate Targeted In Car Fire

Arson

Homelessness

Ted Wheeler

Portland area law enforcement made the biggest fentanyl bust in the history of the local sheriff&#8217;s office but then released the suspected ringleader before prosecutors could file charges.
The suspected ringleader was arrested on Thursday but released later that day, <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2023/12/09/questions-surround-multnomah-county-sheriff-offices-largest-ever-fentanyl-bust/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to court documents reported by Willamette Week.
The suspect then did not show up at his court hearing the next day.
The Multnomah County Sheriff&#8217;s Office <a href="https://www.facebook.com/multcoso/posts/pfbid0mmXFxVK79Uze4se2TUcbZbkSS7Rwbhj6RqmrweJ9TUHdKSSDNcdtgziEUj7q48Rml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Friday that it had seized more than 52 pounds of powdered fentanyl, the biggest seizure in the county&#8217;s history and one of the largest in Oregon&#8217;s history.
The drug bust was the result of a months-long investigation, the sheriff&#8217;s office said.
The sheriff&#8217;s office raided two locations on Thursday, one in Portland, where the fentanyl powder was found, and one in Oregon City, where they found more than 8,000 fentanyl pills.
The cops also found more than $30,000 cash and multiple firearms, including &#8220;two disassembled rifles, an AR-15 and an AK-47,&#8221; hidden in a package set to go to Honduras.
The 52 pounds of fentanyl powder amounted to about 11 million individual doses, which police believe would have been sold in the Portland area.
Three people were arrested: Luis Funez, 23, Gerson Isaac Hernandez-Betancurt, 21, and Dezirae Ann Torset, 37.
Funez was described as the suspected ringleader in court documents. He was arrested while fleeing his house in Northeast Portland.
Torset was said to be his girlfriend, and Hernandez-Betancurt an accomplice making deliveries.
All three suspects were booked in Multnomah County jail.
Funez was booked at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday but released later that day, according to jail records. He was instructed to show up in court the next morning, but he did not. His whereabouts are now unclear.
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Hernandez-Betancurt and Torset were not released immediately.
Prosecutors had intended to bring new charges against Funez after Thursday&#8217;s drug bust, but he was released before they could file them, <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/suspect-record-setting-fentanyl-bust-skips-court/283-b678956e-584f-4e07-986b-a477caaf42a3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to an affidavit filed Friday.
Funez, who also goes by Arteaga-Sanchez, was already facing multiple prior drug charges from January. He also had a warrant out for his arrest stemming from his failure to appear at a March court hearing.
Funez told authorities he had just come to Portland from Sacramento, where he had lived for five years. Before that, he had lived in Honduras.
A spokesperson for Multnomah County&#8217;s Department of Community Justice <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2023/12/09/questions-surround-multnomah-county-sheriff-offices-largest-ever-fentanyl-bust/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the county followed the state&#8217;s required guidelines on who can be held in jail before trial.
Oregon, and especially the Portland area, has struggled for years with an influx of fentanyl, which has worsened an addiction crisis and contributed to the spiraling homelessness problem in the area.

Supervised consumption sites in the DTES give addicts who use fentanyl, opioids, crystal methamphetamine and other drugs a place to use

Oregon Sheriff’s Office Makes Biggest Fentanyl Bust In County History, Then Suspected Ringleader Released

Oregon Sheriff's Office Makes Biggest Fentanyl Bust In County History, Then Suspected Ringleader Released 

Law Enforcement

Portland public school teachers will now take gender identity and race into account before disciplining students, according to an agreement between the school district and its teachers union.
The requirement appears in a collective bargaining <a href="https://www.pps.net/cms/lib/OR01913224/Centricity/Domain/56/Tentative%20Agreements%20Combined%2011.27.23%20PAT.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreement</a> between Portland Public Schools and its unionized teachers, which ended a nearly month-long strike late last month. The agreement with the Portland Association of Teachers was ratified on Tuesday.
When a student engages in &#8220;continuous disruptive behavior,&#8221; school officials must develop a &#8220;support plan&#8221; for the student that &#8220;must take into consideration the impact of issues related to the student&#8217;s trauma, race, gender identity/presentation, sexual orientation … and restorative justice as appropriate for the student,&#8221; the agreement <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/portland-public-schools-must-now-consider-race-gender-identity-when-disciplining-students/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states,</a> according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The new disciplinary policy also prohibits suspending a student who threatens or harms other people. Those students may now only be removed from their classroom and sent to a &#8220;self-regulation space&#8221; within the school.
Previously Portland schools <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-public-schools-changed-suspension-policy-teachers-strike/283-57387413-23d3-46e9-aea7-c532fd91b37f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could</a> suspend middle and high school for at least five days for extreme cases of students causing physical harm or threatening violence. Now through the union agreement, the district has expanded its rapid response teams, which are supposed to intervene early in these situations.
The agreement replaces the term &#8220;unacceptable&#8221; student behavior with &#8220;continuous disruptive&#8221; behavior, and refers to &#8220;support plans&#8221; rather than &#8220;behavior correction plans.&#8221;
More than 40,000 Portland students <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/portland-public-school-classes-resume-after-teachers-strike/story?id=105188761#:~:text=More%20than%2040%2C000%20Oregon%20students,U.S.%20teachers%20strike%20in%202023." target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned</a> to the classroom last week for the first time since Halloween when the teacher strike ended.
Due to the strike, students&#8217; winter break will be cut in half to make up for the class time they lost this month. Parents have complained this decision affects their holiday plans.
Portland’s teachers will get a pay raise of about 14% over three years thanks to their new contract with the district.
Student discipline has been a growing concern in Portland&#8217;s public schools.
Portland teachers have <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/portland-public-schools-changed-suspension-policy-teachers-strike/283-57387413-23d3-46e9-aea7-c532fd91b37f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they are seeing &#8220;more students in crisis&#8221; with mental health issues, which can lead to fights.
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In response, the Portland school district has been working to beef up its &#8220;restorative justice&#8221; practices over the last two years.
“So that we’re really shifting from this punitive way of how we respond, to either discipline, or how we respond to our students who do get suspended or expelled and need to reenter,&#8221; Char Hutson, the program manager for restorative justice <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2021/12/24/amid-fights-and-behavior-problems-portland-public-schools-struggles-to-build-restorative-approach-to-discipline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in 2021.
However, after the pandemic, the district saw a spike in requests for the district’s restorative justice services, seeing up to 60 requests in the fall, 2021 semester compared to just 40 requests for the entire previous school year, Hutson said at the time.
Failing discipline policies were one of the concerns among conservative parents in other parts of the country who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-moms-and-dads-taking-over-school-boards-across-the-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ran</a> for school board after the pandemic.

TOPSHOT-education-FRANCE-SCHOOL

Portland Teachers Will Take Gender Identity, Race Into Account Before Disciplining

Race

When it comes to public education in Oregon, the Oregon Education Association (OEA) makes a <a href="https://oregoned.org/about-oea">bold promise</a>: “to provide the basic right of great public education to every student.” The union’s direct involvement in school closures and watering down basic graduation requirements, however, indicates the opposite. In truth, the OEA has played an essential role in the deterioration of Oregon’s public schools.
<h2>COVID School Shutdowns</h2>
In response to the COVID pandemic, Oregon Governor Kate Brown, whom OEA endorsed, ordered the <a href="https://www.salemreporter.com/2020/03/18/school-closures-in-salem-around-oregon-extended-through-april-governor-orders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statewide closure</a> of schools for over a year. During the <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2020/03/coronavirus-closure-wont-lead-to-online-classes-in-oregon-public-schools-this-is-why.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first six weeks</a> of Brown’s shutdowns, no online alternative was offered to students enrolled in public schools. In response, thousands of Oregon families began the process of transferring their children to Oregon’s online charter school programs. 
That is, until the OEA stepped in. Citing a 2011 law that sets a three percent enrollment cap for students transferring to online education in the state, the <a href="https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2019I1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/222653">OEA argued</a> that even a one-half-of-one-percent increase would redirect $55.5 million from district budgets. Siding with the OEA, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) not only <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2020/03/oregons-online-schools-also-subject-to-gov-kate-browns-coronavirus-closure-order-report.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placed a temporary hold</a> on virtual education enrollment, but <a href="https://www.bendbulletin.com/opinion/guest-column-gov-brown-and-oea-shut-down-online-charter-schools/article_32cad56e-8336-11ea-b53b-ffedbd758d7c.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> all publicly funded online schools in statewide closures despite zero risk of COVID exposure.
Further, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uh0y7LjzOzMW4lB95LmdRvjBlyxGsNDC/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">email correspondence</a> reveals that the OEA not only developed a set of strict standards for return to in-person instruction for the ODE, but requested that the state “put pressure” on Oregon school districts to adopt similar requirements preventing students from returning to the classroom. 
The effects of OEA-sanctioned school closures continue to weigh down Oregon students. Data from the Nation’s Report Card ranks Oregon <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2022/10/oregon-ranks-no-5-for-pandemic-reading-loss-no-8-for-math-researchers-say.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">among the top 10</a> states in the nation for pandemic learning loss in both reading and math. In addition, students experiencing anxiety and depression in the state <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/health/new-study-shows-covid-19-impact-on-the-mental-health-of-oregons-youth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climbed to 40 percent</a> from 2016 to 2020. 
<h2>Graduation Requirement Suspensions</h2>
Prior to the pandemic, Oregon students were required to demonstrate <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/essentialskills/pages/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">basic proficiency</a> in reading, writing, and math through statewide standardized testing. Naturally, learning loss caused by school closures led to lower test scores. But instead of focusing on helping students get back on track academically, the Oregon Board of Education discarded standardized testing graduation requirements entirely <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/essentialskills/pages/default.aspx">through the 2023-2024 school year</a>.
The OEA played an active role in the passage of <a href="https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB744/Enrolled" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> that authorized the suspension of graduation requirements. A member of the OEA’s Special Education Committee boasted that the committee “<a href="https://oregoned.org/professional-excellence/leadership-development/member-spotlight/niels-pasternak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helped to develop</a>…and helped OEA pass…Senate Bill 744 during the last legislative session” to address “several equity concerns” surrounding Oregon’s graduation requirements. On October 19, the Board of Education voted unanimously to <a href="https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard/viewSingleRule.action?ruleVrsnRsn=306489" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extend the OEA-endorsed suspension</a> through the 2027-2028 school year.
While <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/education/oregon-department-of-education-records-2nd-best-graduation-rate-to-date/#:~:text=Across%20all%20Oregon%20schools%20during,school%20year%20was%20just%2080.6%25." target="_blank" rel="noopener">graduation rates</a> in Oregon have unsurprisingly skyrocketed, the value of a high school diploma in the state has plummeted. In the <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/education/ode-oregon-students-test-proficiency-still-lower-than-before-covid-19-pandemic/#:~:text=Last%20school%20year%2C%20about%2043,ELA%20saw%20a%200.6%25%20decrease." target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021-2022 school year</a>, just 43 percent of students were proficient in English, while only 30.6 percent of students were proficient in math. 
<h2>Continued School Closures</h2>
As if a year of school closures wasn’t enough, roughly 45,000 students in Oregon’s largest school district continue to lose out on instructional time due to the Portland Association of Teachers’ (PAT) <a href="https://labornotes.org/2023/11/first-ever-strike-portland-teachers-tackles-student-needs#:~:text=The%20Portland%20Association%20of%20Teachers,cost%2Dof%2Dliving%20adjustments." target="_blank" rel="noopener">inaugural strike</a>. 
In addition to typical demands such as increased salaries and smaller class sizes, the union’s proposal includes <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/pdxteachers/pages/1673/attachments/original/1678819362/PAT_Bargaining_Platform_-_QR_petition_edition.pdf?1678819362" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fringe stipulations</a> that have little to do with education, such as district support for first time house buyers, housing assistance for families, and professional development with a focus on “addressing implicit bias, anti-racism, and culturally responsive practices.” 
The union’s demands come with an enormous price tag and would require the district to come up with an <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2023/11/portland-public-schools-strike-what-you-need-to-know.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">additional $372 million</a> over the next three years. If the OEA affiliate refuses to budge, Portland Public Schools may need to fire up to <a href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2023/11/01/46822117/portland-teachers-strike-district-asks-state-for-money-teachers-say-hold-the-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">300 current teachers</a> to balance the district budget. 
The OEA’s demands are not only financially “irresponsible,” according to Oregon <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/education/gov-kotek-potential-portland-teachers-strike/283-a7b5734b-359a-4b37-9348-5d395e783017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Governor Tina Kotek</a>, but could keep Portland students out of the classroom for weeks or longer. 
<h2>OEA And The Future Of Oregon Education</h2>
As student success continues to decline in Oregon, it’s clear that the Oregon Education Association has broken its promise to ensure “great public education” for students. In truth, every action that the OEA has taken regarding school closures and graduation requirements has solidified the deterioration of public education on the taxpayer’s dime.
The OEA’s willingness to leave students behind is in stark contrast to its <a href="https://oregoned.org/about-oea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mission statement</a> and begs the question of which promise the OEA will break next. OEA members, parents, and the Board of Education need to take a closer look at the union’s impact on education and act accordingly. The future of Oregon’s students depends on it.
Jason Dudash is the Northwest Director of the <a href="http://www.freedomfoundation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freedom Foundation.</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Oregon state detailed editable map

As Student Success In Oregon Plummets, Teachers’ Unions Deserve Blame

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Teachers in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/portland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland</a> kicked off a strike on Wednesday, walking off the job and closing schools for about 45,000 students.
The Portland Association of Teachers, which represents more than 4,000 teachers in the area, is complaining about salaries, large class sizes, and not enough resources.
There are no classes, even online instruction, during the strike.
The teachers union has been bargaining with the district for months after its contract expired in June. The union said this is the first time teachers have gone on strike in the Portland school district.
Meanwhile, Portland Public Schools claims it does not have enough funds to give the union what it wants despite Oregon&#8217;s record $10.2 billion K-12 budget for the next two years. The district said the union&#8217;s demands would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more and mean staffing cuts as well.
“Funding has not kept pace with the needs of our students, nor our educators,” Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said Wednesday. “We strive to offer a compensation that attracts and retains talent. But unlike a private organization, we don’t have record profits we can tap into.”
Salary is one of the main sticking points between the district and the union. The district&#8217;s annual base salary is about $50,000, although the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/01/us/portland-oregon-teachers-strike.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">average</a> salary for a Portland teacher is $87,000, according to the district, which is slightly above the median income for a single person in the area.
The union has asked for a roughly 20% salary increase over three years, while the district has suggested offering about half that much.
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Teachers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/01/us/portland-oregon-teachers-strike.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> they are working overtime to handle their workload as students&#8217; academic and mental health needs have spiked since the pandemic. The union is asking for more time for teachers to plan lessons.
On Friday, the district and the union are set to meet with a state mediator together, the superintendent said.
Declining enrollment is another factor as the Portland district has lost close to 3,000 students since the pandemic, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/teachers-strike-portland-oregon-7c437cefd322b19c1d915a1a32431781" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to state data.
The Portland strike is the latest of several school worker strikes in large cities this year.
In March, Los Angeles school workers in the country&#8217;s second-largest public school district <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/25/business/la-school-strike-growing-trend/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">walked</a> off the job, shutting schools for about a half million students for three days. The workers, which included teachers&#8217; aides, cafeteria employees, and custodians, were demanding better pay and that the district hire more people.
Then in May, teachers, librarians, counselors, and other workers went on strike in Oakland in the Bay Area for about two weeks. That union demanded higher pay, as well as housing assistance for homeless students and reparations for black students. The strike shut down the city’s public schools, and the district eventually <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/striking-oakland-teachers-district-reach-agreement-on-four-common-good-issues/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caved</a> on the union’s housing assistance demand.
Back in September, the Portland teachers union <a href="https://freebeacon.com/policy/portland-teachers-threaten-school-shutdown-if-their-district-declines-to-provide-subsidized-housing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to strike over subsidized housing for poor students as well.
The teacher strikes also come amid cost of living woes this year, especially in bigger cities, due to skyrocketing inflation.

Inside of a First Grade Classroom

Portland Teachers Walk Off Job, Shutting Schools For 45,000 Kids

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