Portland Public Schools Superintendent Ryan Scallon on Tuesday doubled down on the district’s commitment to “equity” and to continue allowing transgender-identifying boys to participate in girls’ sports, comparing the controversial political climate surrounding the issue to the civil rights and women’s suffrage movements.
In a nearly 20-minute speech to the school board during their Tuesday meeting, Scallon, who was hired as the district’s superintendent in June 2023, affirmed Portland Schools’ mission of “equity,” specifically when it comes to closing achievement gaps for students learning English and for the participation of transgender students in sports.
Watch a clip of Portland Superintendent Ryan Scallon’s remarks from Off the Press below:
The Portland Public Schools’ “definition of equity” states that equity will only be achieved in the district when “there are no identifiable differences in outcomes and experiences for any population sub-group (race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, etc).”
[RELATED: Portland Schools’ Equity Push Aims for All Students to Have Equal Outcomes, Equal Experiences…]
“I’m going to take a little bit longer tonight, as I want to address our district’s support for the diversity found in our students and staff, and specifically for our transgender students, staff and athletes,” Scallon opened his remarks.
“The Portland Public School’s vision is that all learners will be fully prepared to participate and succeed in a diverse and everchanging world,” Scallon continued. “This vision doesn’t change if the student identifies as white, black or brown, speaks three language or one, is learning English or grew up speaking it, passes the math tests on the first try or needs additional support from an education technician.”
“I want to assure you tonight that the PPS community, and I want to assure the PPS community that we will continue to stay true to that mission and all that it takes to accomplish it,” he said.
According to Scallon, Portland is the most diverse school district in the state, with 53 percent of the student population being students of color, one third being English language learners, and one fifth receiving special education services.
“Our students and staff are also diverse in a variety of other ways that include ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, religious affiliation and cultural background,” Scallon said.
“That diversity is an asset,” he said. “Many families cite our diversity as the reason they choose to live in Portland and to send their children to our schools rather than to move to the more homogeneous communities around us.”
Despite Scallon claiming that the district’s diversity is an “asset,” he pointed to massive achievement gaps on reading and math among the district’s students.
According to the superintendent, last year there was a 44 percentage point difference between multilingual learners and non-multilingual learners in reading, and a 40 percentage point difference in math.
On the same assessment there was a 39 percentage point difference on reading and a 35 percent difference on the math assessment for economically disadvantaged students and non-economically disadvantaged students.
“We will continue to use our data to make sure we address the gaps experienced by our students and advance practices that promote positive outcomes for all students,” Scallon said. “To do anything less would be a dereliction of duty as educational professionals.”
“I joined PPS because I’ve spent my entire career working to support students who are often underserved and overlooked,” he said. “As I shared at our all-staff welcome event at Merrill Auditorium this past August, I believe that Portland is the school district in this country best positioned to close the achievement gap for our students.”
As part of his strategy to close the achievement gaps, Scallon said it was “essential” to build a team of teachers and staff that is “reflective of the diversity community in which we live in works,” claiming that studies show “the positive impact of a diverse teaching faculty on student outcomes.”
“That requires that we have strong hiring practices that are consistent across hiring teams,” the superintendent said, adding that hiring teams would be addressing “implicit bias” in hiring, which he said is “something that is present in each of us.”
On the issue of transgender students participating in sports, Scallon began with a comparison of the matter to previous “civil rights struggles” in the U.S.
“In our country’s history, there have been many civil rights struggles, including but not limited to fights for women’s rights to vote, for racial equality and for gay marriage,” Scallon said. “In each of these fights the opposition in part was driven by fear and attempts to ostracize or other people who looked, act, or believed in something different.”
“Today, I see that happening again with our transgender or non-binary students, and in particular our transgender athletes,” he said.
Scallon said that while he was not interested in “proactively speaking out on social matters or political matters” when he joined the district as superintendent, he “cannot continue to seek silently” on the issue.
“It is simply unacceptable that there are efforts by the federal government and some in our state to ostracize a student population that is estimated to be less than one percent of our student population,” Scallon said.
“Our LGBTQ+ students, and especially transgender youth, are at a significantly increased risk for negative outcomes, including risk of suicide, in part because of their experiences of not being seen, understood and respected for who they are,” Scallon said.
Scallon argued that people who say their interest in the issue is rooted in concern of girls’ sports are actually trying to “other and disparage a group that already experiences marginalization.”
“This effort is made in the interests of fracturing communities, and is actively putting students at risk,” he said. “I along with my colleagues in this district cannot accept this. Our community is strong and supports our students, inclusive of their gender identities.”
Scallon said that Portland Schools will continue to “welcome and normalize that youth will express a range of gender identities,” including allowing biological males to enter girls’ bathrooms and to participate in girls’ sports.
[RELATED: Trans Identifying Male Leap-frogs Competitors at Girls’ Pole Vaulting Meet in Maine…]
To bolster his argument, Scallon then claimed that the “true purpose” of youth athletics had “been forgotten,” arguing that sports were not about the “opportunity to win trophies” but that athletics are important for youth development.
“They provide students with the opportunity to build self-confidence, learn to work on teams and to grow from the experiences of both winning and losing,” he said. “All of our students, including our transgender students, deserve the opportunity to have the same benefit.”
Scallon then dismissed claims that transgender identifying males participating in girls’ sports takes away opportunities from those girls, saying that “the number of students we are talking about is so small that it truly doesn’t take away opportunities.”
[RELATED: Maine High School Track Coach: ‘trans girls are girls and deserve to compete with girls’…]
The superintendent also said that is was a “misconception” that transgender-identifying males could pose a danger to females on the court or on the field.
Scallon said that the only time it becomes an issue is when what he called the “ugliness of othering” comes from fans “making disparaging comments.”
“I’ve only seen this be truthfully shameful behavior by adults bullying kids who are trying to have fun, grow and be themselves,” he said.
The Portland superintendent said he was “encouraged” by Maine Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Principals’ Association decision to “stand up for the rights of our transgender athletes.”
