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The Trump administration is investigating a voter-approved program to support Black students in Oregon’s largest school district.

OPB education reporter Tiffany Camhi starts today’s newsletter with why the federal administration is targeting this program and others in Oregon.

In other news, Oregon Republicans returned to the Senate floor yesterday after a one-day walkout, and a Portland city councilor has a controversial idea to quell disruptive protests.

Here’s your First Look at Friday’s news.

—Bradley W. Parks

Portland Public Schools’ initiative to support Black students is the latest Oregon target of Trump administration

Portland Public Schools is under a federal civil rights investigation for moving forward on a voter-approved effort to better support the district’s historically marginalized Black students.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced this week that it’s looking into allegations of race-based discrimination at PPS. The investigation is specifically tied to a complaint over the district’s effort to create a new learning facility formerly known as the Center for Black Student Excellence.

The complaint was filed by the conservative education advocacy group Defending Education last December. It alleges that the PPS initiative has “racially discriminatory programming” that violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and equal protection granted under the Constitution.

The inquiry is the latest federal examination of Oregon educational institutions for possible civil rights violations. (Tiffany Camhi)

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3 things to know this morning

• Republicans returned to the Oregon Senate floor yesterday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the GOP secured meaningful concessions from Democrats, but they made it clear they aren’t done opposing a proposal to move the gas tax referendum. (Dirk VanderHart) 
• Oregon state representatives approved a measure yesterday that would prohibit a president from deploying another state’s National Guard to Oregon for law enforcement or immigration enforcement purposes without the Oregon governor’s permission. (Lauren Dake) 
• The price tag for Portland’s water filtration project has increased to $2.56 billion, and water officials said yesterday they’re hoping to push back a looming deadline to start filtering the city’s drinking water. (April Ehrlich)

Headlines from around the Northwest

• Loretta Smith calls for open carry for Portland city councilors following latest protest (Alex Zielinski)
• Oregon Democratic lawmakers push back on mass deportation efforts (Lauren Dake)
• Kotek directs Oregon state agencies to coordinate efforts to support immigrants and refugees (Sheraz Sadiq)
• Proposal to cap bills causes dustup in Oregon House (Dirk VanderHart)
• 2 students at Longview’s Mark Morris High School arrested on sexual assault charges (Erik Neumann)

Listen in on OPB’s daily conversation

“Think Out Loud” airs at noon and 8 p.m. weekdays on OPB Radio, opb.org and the OPB News app. Today’s planned topics (subject to change):

• New OHSU study finds nearly a third of Medicaid-enrolled physicians don’t see Medicaid patients
• 2 Oregon school districts on the first month of statewide school cellphone ban
• Portland doctor says many factors behind rising burnout, has recommendations for relief

Superabundant recipe: Pancit with crispy pork lechon

Tuesday kicked off a weeklong celebration for Asians worldwide with the Lunar New Year, but it was also Fat Tuesday — a time to relish fried treats before a period of austerity and sacrifice for those who observe Lent.

It’s a great time to break out a showstopper like Peking duck or lechon — a whole roast suckling pig with crackling-crisp skin.

To make things easier, this recipe calls for pork belly, though the Filipino staple stir-fried noodle dish pancit is usually made with chicken or shrimp. You can also make it vegetarian or vegan.

If you have the time to be precious with this pancit, slowly building and layering the flavors will create a dish that truly tastes like a special occasion. (Heather Arndt Anderson)

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/20/portland-schools-civil-rights-investigation-first-look/