Portland Public Schools is facing backlash after opening its official back-to-school welcome video with drag performer Poison Waters.
The district posted the video Friday on its official Facebook page to greet teachers, principals and staff as the 2026-27 school year began. Waters, whose legal name is Kevin Cook, appeared first in the footage and was identified onscreen as an advocate, educator and host. The longtime Portland performer later delivered a direct message to district employees about their work ahead.
“I’m here to wish you all a successful 2026, 2027 school year and to thank all the amazing principals, teachers, and staff for your dedication to your students and their learning,” Waters said in the video. “While we can often get caught up in the hustle and bustle, it’s so important to remember that together we rise with excellence and purpose.”
The video also included appearances from Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., along with other Portland-area public figures. Waters has deep ties to the local education community beyond the PPS feature. A Portland State University profile described the performer as a longtime Portland advocate and educator who taught a noncredit course on the history of drag performance at Portland Community College. Waters received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Portland State in 2025.
Heritage Foundation education research fellow Corey DeAngelis, a prominent school choice advocate, sharply criticized the district’s decision in a statement Monday. He accused PPS of promoting gender ideology and overstepping its role with families.
“Portland Public Schools’ back-to-school video is beyond parody,” DeAngelis said. “The government school system is trying to groom young impressionable minds into gender ideology. They want to brainwash other people’s kids and replace their families. The school system has overstepped their boundaries and needs to stay in its lane. The public school system is rubbing it in that they have control over children whether the parents like it or not. Kids don’t belong to the government. Parents are responsible for passing down values to their children, not government schools.”
He pressed the point further by framing the controversy as a recruitment tool for alternatives to public education.
“The video posted on the school district’s official Facebook account is free advertising for school choice and homeschooling,” DeAngelis continued. “Families need the power to take their children’s education funding to the schools that align with their values rather than subvert them.”
Sonja Shaw, a candidate for California superintendent of public instruction, echoed the criticism in her own statement Monday. She argued the decision to feature Waters was a deliberate statement about district priorities rather than a neutral welcome gesture.
“That wasn’t an accident. It was a choice. And it tells you exactly where the district’s priorities are,” Shaw said. “Public schools exist to educate children in reading, writing, math, science and critical thinking. They are not stages for adult entertainment or ideological and cultural signaling.”
She added a direct call to action: “Get politics and adult entertainment out of our schools and get back to educating children.”
Tina Descovich, CEO and co-founder of Moms for Liberty, also weighed in with a statement condemning the district. She described the video as part of a broader pattern of classroom politicization backed by teachers unions.
“Portland Public Schools has been unabashed about its objectives: hijacking the classroom to push a sexualized curriculum and progressive viewpoints on impressionable children,” Descovich shared. “We see exactly what this district (backed fully by teachers unions) is doing, and Moms for Liberty will keep fighting to protect our children from the left’s indoctrination and get students back to learning again.”
The video surfaced weeks after Portland mother Allison Roberts sued PPS and her children’s elementary school, alleging officials retaliated against her for objecting to gender-identity curriculum and an intersex-inclusive Progress Pride flag. The district declined to comment on that pending case when previously asked. Portland Public Schools, Waters and Dexter’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the welcome-back video.