A new policy governing what Portland Public Schools educators are — and are not — allowed to put on the walls of their classrooms is drawing pushback from its vocal teachers’ union.
Under the policy, items on display in classroom walls and bulletin boards must be related to approved curriculum or district sponsored events. The rules specify that classroom spaces “cannot be used for an employee’s personal expression, whether that is related to a political or personal issue.”
This is long overdue. Personal politics has no place in public school classrooms.
“The rainbow flag and BLM poster are district-approved symbols of inclusion to often-marginalized students,” district spokesperson Valerie Feder said. “Posters advocating for specific positions on political positions are not student-centered in that they are not rooted in our educational mission or curriculum. Personal expression by employees is not in furtherance of PPS’s academic purposes.”
As I’ve said multiple times before, the idea that Black Lives Matter is not a political movement is contradicted by all available evidence. This is wildly different than, say, a poster supporting the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s or quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I see no reason why any flags other than that of the United States and the State of Oregon should be hung on the walls of a classroom. (One could argue for, say, the flag of France in a French classroom, etc., of course.)
So all of this appears at best to be a half step toward a politics-free public educational environment. At least it’s a move in the right direction.