PDX Index

Portland Public Schools’ Numbers Problems

The new bond will help school buildings, but will there be enough kids to fill them?

08/25/2025 By Margaret Seiler

Sexually Implicit

Porn Is Everywhere. Why Has School Sex Ed Mostly Ignored It?

Even Oregon’s progressive health curriculum has struggled to address sexually explicit media, but it’s about to join the conversation in middle and high schools.

08/26/2024 By Ellee Thalheimer Illustrations by Matt Chase

Hold the Phone

Is a Cell Phone Policy Coming to Portland Classrooms?

Portland Public Schools is reconsidering its laissez-faire approach.

05/07/2024 By Zoe Sayler

News

Will the Portland School Year End in July? Four Possibilities after the Strike

Students at Portland Public Schools have now missed school since November 1. What does that mean for summer break?

11/22/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Schools

A Years-Long Rift over School Fundraising Comes to a Head in Portland

At issue: should individual schools be able to buy more full-time staff members?

11/08/2022 By Julia Silverman

Education

Running the Numbers on Portland’s Substitute Teacher Shortage

The problem is poised to persist in the 2022–2023 school year.

08/26/2022 By Julia Silverman

Essay

Notes on Answering the Call to Substitute Teach in a Portland Middle School

Of paper airplanes and Fortnite, TikTok, worksheets, clap-outs and trying to make up for lost time

08/26/2022 By Emily Chenoweth

Education

At Portland Public Schools, a Budget Debate Is Looming Large

The district says it costs more to run its schools than money at hand, and cuts need to be made. Not everyone is on board.

04/22/2022 By Julia Silverman

Feature

Inside the Search for Hundreds of Portland’s Missing Students

When school buildings reopened in September, hundreds of students who should have been there never came back. A small team of Portland Public Schools employees is on their trail.

03/29/2022 By Julia Silverman Photography by NASHCO PHOTO

Schools

Portland's Largest School District to Go Mask Optional on March 14

PPS will remove the mask requirement, with other metro area school districts likely to follow suit.

03/03/2022 By Julia Silverman

Education

To Keep Schools Open, Portland Needs More Substitute Teachers

But not everyone will make it through the application process, and not all substitutes want to fill in at schools where they are most needed.

01/21/2022 By Julia Silverman

Education

What's Next for Schools during the Omicron Surge?

For starters, more schools are likely to move into temporary distance learning

01/11/2022 By Julia Silverman

Education

Two of Portland's Biggest High Schools Will Move to Remote Learning

The switch at Cleveland and McDaniel High Schools comes after a big jump in planned staff absences

01/06/2022 By Julia Silverman

Education

Six Weeks Ago, a Vaccine Mandate for PPS Seemed Like a Lock. No More.

What's behind the swift rise and even quicker fall of negotiations over an emotionally charged issue?

11/18/2021 By Julia Silverman

Education

Enrollment at the State's Biggest School District Is Down 4.1 Percent

Kindergarten enrollment stays flat, and the majority at the PPS Online Learning Academy are students of color.

11/15/2021 By Margaret Seiler

Q+A

Many Teachers Say They're At a Breaking Point. So Now What?

Talking with Portland Association of Teachers President Elizabeth Thiel about possible solutions, from more planning time to fewer standardized tests

11/01/2021 By Julia Silverman

Education

A Vaccine Mandate for Kids Could Be Coming to PPS

School board members will consider the pros and cons of such a move at a special session this evening.

09/28/2021 By Julia Silverman

News You Can Use

5 Stories to Watch This Week, September 20-27

Booster shots for the 65+ crowd, a redistricting ruckus in Salem, and more schoolkids in quarantine.

09/20/2021 By Julia Silverman

Education

What's the Holdup with COVID Screening at Oregon Schools?

Similar programs are already up and running in other jurisdictions. Here, the summer delta surge has slowed things down.

09/09/2021 By Julia Silverman

Education

Burning Questions About Back to School 2021

What about lunch? Will my kid be spending the year in quarantine? What’s up with after-care?

08/25/2021 By Julia Silverman