NASW-NC was approached by Mary Lindsley of the ACLU to collaborate efforts in working toward better sex education in North Carolina. Mary's efforts are already proving successful, please take time to read the note from her below. We look forward to continuing to work together on this important issue!
The school board congratulated the staff representatives on bringing together a diverse community review committee to evaluate 9 programs. The review committee included Sarah A., Susan B., Kristin G., Betsy E., Katherine B., and some other volunteers. A big thanks to them for donating their time over the past six months to review 2-3 programs and then come together to build consensus on a recommendation. While the prevailing Sex Can Wait program was not the review committee's first recommendation, it is a great improvement over the problematic and potentially harmful materials being replaced. The top choices, as I understand, contained information on contraception that would have disqualified them under the "federal a-h guidelines" to receive federal Title V monies. If you believe that we should not have to lower our standards (and match $) to fit sex education into an unrealistic and potentially harmful framework, please contact the governor and request that he reject Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage funds or demand your local school district do so. Congratulations to New Hanover County! If you have any specific questions for the volunteers or the process of change, feel free to contact me and I can connect you to the right people or resources. Many organizations, including the NC Department of Instruction (DPI,) have helpful resources to assist in evaluations, reviews, or even the push toward the comprehensive sex education public hearing. We all can have better materials in our schools. See article!http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20071204/NEWS/712040366/1004
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