Portland teacher removes American flag from classroom after Pride and BLM flags were banned

A Portland high school teacher told local media that she removed the American flag from her classroom because it represents "violence and menace and intolerance." The move by Gail Grobey, an English teacher at Newberg High School and former president of the Newberg Education Association, came in response to a newly approved resolution by the conservative wing of the nonpartisan Newberg School Board that bans the Black Lives Matter and Pride symbols on campus. "We're trying to start a school year positively, and the distractions these four people (on the school board) are putting out there are not making that very easy," Grobey told The Newberg Graphic.

"It's challenging to think about putting together the beginning of school but still feeling really compelled to take action as a body to show the kids and families how much we support them and who they are," she added. Grobey also said that the Newberg Education Association is in the process of forming an organizing committee to decide how union members will respond collectively to the school board's actions. "We are certainly going to become very active in terms of supporting the community coalition that has formed against these actions by the board," she said.

"This is their fight almost more than it's ours, and we are ready to support them. There are groups out there in the community who have a stake in this as parents and community members of varying backgrounds," Grobey stated. She went on to call out the handful of school board members who reportedly suggested that background/identity-affirming displays are somehow harmful to students. "I'll say this personally: I've spent 23 years in this district and you can't tell me what to do," Grobey said. "I know my kids, and I know what's best for them and what to do to help them feel comfortable."

"I took the American flag down in my classroom because that's the most political symbol there is. When I see [board member] Trevor DeHart sitting there at those board meetings with that giant American flag behind him, it's terrifying. That symbol doesn't stand for freedom or justice or equality anymore. It stands for violence and menace and intolerance, and I will not fly that in my room," she continued. "We want to be really excited about the kids coming in and there is already this ubiquitous apprehension around the risks of COVID. You throw in this other thing where Big Brother wants to control what we support or what we talk about."

"Are we going to cancel government classes? That is deeply political. What does civics mean? We can't have civil discourse on anything under this policy language, and it's frankly ridiculous," Grobey added. According to Daily Mail, the school board's controversial policy states: 'No district employee shall, while acting within the scope of their employment, either during school hours or inside their physical area of responsibility at a school (such as a classroom, meeting room, desk area) hang, post, erect or otherwise display... any posters, signs, flags, banners, pictures, or other digital or physical image that depicts support or opposition relating to a political, quasi-political or controversial topic."

"For purposes of this policy, a controversial topic shall be defined as one that a professional educator could reasonably understand to have students on more than one side of said issue. For purposes of this policy, a political or quasi-political topic includes contemporary issues being debated in the local, state, or national political climate," it adds. Despite the new policy causing distress, Grobey said the joy of returning to in-person learning remains for teachers in the district. "Teachers are so excited to be back and seeing those faces in front of us," she said. "We do this because we love kids. [The] curriculum is second to these kids. We are there for them no matter who they are or what their beliefs are. These board members have to stop looking at the labels and come into these spaces and see what it is we do on a day-to-day basis."