The State of Sex Education

The state of Texas has the 3rd highest teen birth rates. Additionally, it is the number one highest for multiple births to teenage mothers.

In 1995, Texas legislators voted to have sex-education in the classroom, but allowed school districts to decide what kind of education they should provide. A 2009 study by the progressive Texas Freedom Network showed that 94 percent of school districts elected to only teach abstinence. The Guttmacher Institute notes that a sexually active teen who does not use contraception has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year. The rising birth rate in Texas would seem to support this, but now with the state's rising pregnancy rates, schools and parents are changing to an abstinence-plus curriculum including one that includes information on contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.

Although Texas school districts are trying to catch up with modern sex education, using the school system will not help with the pregnancy crisis. In a 2010 statewide TFN poll showed that about 80 percent of likely voters favor teaching students about contraception. Consider the "pregnancy pact" incident at Gloucester High School in 2008. Girls there were in a race to become pregnant, despite the more extensive sex education provided to the Massachusetts population.

In times of financial and family upheaval, some teenage girls feel that having a baby will give them unconditional love. They are oblivious to the responsibility of things like 3 A.M. feedings. Some might blame the school for making motherhood too easy, by providing free on-site day care during school hours, and making strollers available to students during the school year. If parents want the school system to provide education and moral direction, they must include more than contraception. They must educate in responsibility for raising a new life.

Main Source

http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Let-s-reconsider-abstinence-only-sex-ed-2184304.php

Other Sources

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1816486,00.html

Controversy Over School Finances

Texas school districts are going to lose $9 billion in state funding. The Austin area will lose 1153 employees. 571 of these are teachers. Governor Rick Perry blamed the impending loss of jobs on local school administrators and school boards. "The lieutenant governor, the speaker, their colleagues aren't going to hire or fire one teacher, as best I can tell. That is a local decision that will be made at the local districts." School Board president Mark Williams in response, "It is easy to deflect responsibility and put the blame on school districts. We are the ones that have to make the tough calls. Someone has to balance the budget." The State Senate is trying to blunt the effect of budget cuts. Reducing the cut to $6 billion over 2 years. The House of Representatives is still targeting $9.8 reduction. Conservative lawmakers feel, "Texas classrooms are under assault...from school administrators. Facing wise and necessary budget cuts, administrators are threatening to fire teachers, claiming the Legislature is making them do it — when administrative bloat is the real problem," according to Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, which last month launched the Protect the Classroom campaign. Perry states over the course of the last decade there has been an extraordinary amount of non-classroom employees added to the school roles. He feels the school system is padded with too many administrators. Data from the Texas Education Agency does not show an increase in staff hires other than teacher in the past decade. A recent analysis from school finance consultants found that even if school districts could eliminate half of all nonteaching staff members including counselors, librarians, and cafeteria workers, they would still be unable to meet the $9 billion budget cut. Unless the Conservatives can work with the School Districts, Texas is in danger of falling behind even further behind the national standards in education.

Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/perry-dont-blame-state-for-teacher-layoffs-1310392.html