Wednesday, October 20, 1999
ENQUIRER EDITORIAL
Sex-ed: Who's in control?
Our editorials about sex education in Ohio schools have ignited a brush-fire that is turning up the heat on state officials. The sex-ed plan is also making national news as other states discover a disturbing link to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
At stake is control of what is taught to school children about sexual behavior, attitudes and values. The Ohio battle centers on:
(1) The CDC-sponsored “Programs That Work” (for HIV/AIDS and pregnancy prevention), used by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to train teachers and others to use graphic sex lessons as early as 5th grade.
These programs define “responsible” sex as more condoms; they promote “protected” oral, anal and vaginal sex and “outercourse” to reduce AIDS, STDS and pregnancy. These programs have names such as “Reducing the Risk,” “Be Proud, Be Responsible,” and “Becoming a Responsible Teen.” We have read them all.
(2) The proposed Ohio Model for Competency-Based Health and Physical Education for K-12 students was written by the ODE, with an advisory committee. It supports various health education, including sex education.
At the core of both the CDC curricula and the Ohio Model are national standards that expand to include emotional, mental, social and physical health of children.
The Ohio Model draft, now edited to bare bones, is headed to the Ohio Board of Education and the General Assembly for adoption. Meanwhile:
• Ohio Superintendent Susan Zelman says that ODE now has separated itself from the controversial CDC programs (See her op-ed column).
But the entanglement remains. Three CDC grants to the ODE (1996-99) paid several ODE employees to work simultaneously on the CDC-training and write the Ohio Model. The Ohio link to CDC dates to 1993, and includes ODE and the Ohio Department of Health.
No CDC money has been returned; the same employees are still at work.
Ms. Zelman says the ODE “trained 55 trainers” and then stopped last October. An inside review panel recommended the training end “until March 2000” because grant money ran out. The training continues because each of the 55 “master trainers” agreed to train 20 others. By now, that means up to 1,100 trainers promoting CDC courses. Training has been passed to the Department of Health, universities and others. Bowling Green University sponsored training workshops in February and March; a Cleveland group held one in June.
• Officials say there's “no connection” between CDC programs and the proposed Health Model.
But public documents dating back to 1993 dispute that. Ohio's Cooperative Agreement Supporting School Health Programs pledges to work with CDC on “comprehensive school health” programs; three grant applications from CDC to ODE detail plans to promote the CDC brand of HIV/STD education and link it to the Ohio model.
• State officials say there is no secrecy about sex-ed plans. Ms. Zelman says a draft of the Health Model is available upon request. Good.
But when we first asked for a copy in 1998, we were told by ODE it did not exist. We obtained early drafts after former Gov. George Voinovich protested the effort.
Ohioans rejected similar sex ed mandates in the 1980s; insiders said this time they would keep it quiet.
We call that a “stealth attack” because there has been a chilling pattern of deception to conceal the agenda. That could be changing — or the sanitized documents may be another way to detour public accountability and institutionalize sex education that offends families, mocks parents' control and intimidates dissent.
• State officials insist the model is strictly voluntary. This is legal hair-splitting. ODE consultants advise most districts on courses that align with state models. Students eventually will be “assessed” (tested) on their “health” skills, according to state documents. Federal grants are strict; teach their way or forfeit the money.
• State officials say they only promote “safe, healthy lifestyles.” Translated: Use condoms, practice alternatives to vaginal sex and treat abstinence as a good but unrealistic option.
Ms. Zelman's letter distances ODE from the CDC. But she has not repudiated the CDC's offensive sex-ed “Programs That Work.”
Everybody wants good health education. But the CDC is pushing a Trojan horse that replaces parents and local voters with federal control that could turn schools into clinics for birth control, abortion counseling and more — without parents' consent. Schools in some states already offer mental health counseling, off-campus referrals and more — without parents' permission.
Ms. Zelman and other state officials say we “confused” state and federal sex-ed plans. Not so. The CDC and state agencies have deliberately mingled the two for years. Ohio should not blindly trust the same “experts” who designed condom lessons for 5th graders to come up with a responsible plan for sex education.
Share your opinion with us at letters@enquirer.com
EDITORIAL: Sex-ed: Who's in control?
Excerpts from CDC sex education
State says it won't force plan on local schools
What you can do
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