Oregon Teacher of Year threatened with discipline. He stands against bullying of LGBT students. [View all]

[madfloridian]

There is no way to sum this up in just a few paragraphs. The article must be read.

I will quote his bio from his Twitter site.

I am the first Special Education to be Oregon's Teacher of the year. I am humbled by that honor. My words are my opinions and nobody elses.

Teacher of the Year Threatened With Discipline After Filing Complaints


From the article Brett Bigham and President Obama

Oregon’s Teacher of the Year in 2014 says he has been threatened with disciplinary action by his school district if he attends a national education award ceremony in the capital this week.

Brett Bigham, the first openly gay teacher of the year to use the position as a platform for LGBT rights, spent the better part of 2014 criss-crossing the state giving speeches about how LGBT students can deal with bullying. He now claims he's become the victim of bullying, as his own district, he says, is retaliating against his attempts to fight back.

...During a time Bigham said he faced "constant harassment," he was selected for another national award. However, senior MESD staff denied him leave to attend the National Education Association’s awards gala to accept the 2015 Award for Teaching Excellence from Oregon.

I was impressed by his words from the article:

“I spent this year talking about LGBT kids and how teachers need to stand up for them against bullies,” said Bigham. “I’ve faced this kind of bullying from my district, and I feel like a hypocrite if I don’t stand up to it.

There is much more to the article, but I will have to add these two paragraphs and let you read the rest.

After the Jan. 27, 2014 speech at the Columbia Gorge Education Service District, Bigham alleges then MESD Director of Functional Life Skills Jeanne Zuniga told him to stop referencing his sexuality in his speeches.

Zuniga, Jorgensen, and three others are named in TCSP correspondence, dated Jan. 8, 2015, regarding the September complaint. Bigham later filed another complaint, with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Nov. 24, alleging retaliation for filing his first complaint with TSPC, among other things.