US Lawmakers Advance Bill On Parental Involvement In Sex Education

On May 3, U.S. law negotiators advanced a bill that involve parents in sex education and student testing. The bill was a state Senate rewrite of Rep. Wes Keller that was rejected by the House previously.

The bill, which the committee recently adopted, requests certified teachers contracted by a school or a person approved by the local school board and working under the supervision of a teacher, whose credentials can be reviewed by parents, to teach sex education.

What's Included In The Sex Education Bill?

The Washington Times states that the broad bill covered parental involvement in greater local control, education and student testing. It also asks local school boards to adopt policies that recognize parental rights to object and withdraw their kids from necessary classes, state tests and activities. Parents should also be notified of any sex education classes two weeks in advance.

The bill further asks for a two-year break in required standardized state exams. The break can end if the federal government threatens not to release education funds for failing to test. The bill also calls for a plan to create and choose statewide tests approved by school districts.

The longer bill provisions stated who can teach sex education. The bill only requires the person to be approved by the school board before teaching the subject. No particular individual is prohibited from presenting on sex education.

Challenges To The Proposed Sex Education Bill

According to Ktoo, Jessica Cler, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, said that the bill would create more barriers for students to acquire comprehensive sex education. Cler added that the bill, as a result, would make sex education the most difficult to teach and approve in Washington.

The House disagreed to the bill version twice before. However, Keller and others said that there may be enough votes for the Senate version to adequately clear the House, which is why they are expert efforts to push the sex education bill.

Senate President Kevin Meyer also said that not a lot of time is apparently needed to delve on Keller’s bill. Keller allegedly discussed the matter with other House members.

The conference committee would then be an opportunity to pass the bill. Meyer added that if the sex education bill still fails, they will no longer focus on it.

Parents and schools have mixed reactions regarding the advanced sex education bill. Some parents like the idea that they have more control over the testing procedures and sex education of their children, while others prefer to give schools more options.