[Darnisg]

Ore. teacher, anti-tea party activist put on leave

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon middle school teacher whose "Crash the Tea Party" Internet campaign drew national attention has been put on paid leave while school officials investigate whether he used school equipment or time to work on his Web site.

Beaverton educators were deluged with e-mails and phone messages after Jason Levin's Web page went public earlier this week. On it, Levin encouraged people to infiltrate the tea party movement to discredit the conservative activists.

The site, http://www.crashtheteaparty.org, now links to a different Web page that sells T-shirts in support of the movement. Levin didn't return calls and e-mails from The Associated Press seeking comment Thursday.
Beaverton School District spokeswoman Maureen Wheeler says Levin was placed on administrative leave Thursday. That's the same day tea party groups staged Tax Day protests around the country. lulz