Do You Really Think You Can Choose?

Think a district in a more conservative area can choose a curriculum that reflects their community's values? Think again.

This is last year's OSPI curricula review. Our Whole Lives was reviewed and received glowing reviews. The main complaint was that there was so much material it would be difficult to teach it all in the time constraints of public school. Only one reviewer noted parents might have a problem with the content.

The two curricula reviewed before it, were not as explicit and didn't make the cut. Reviewers complained that they favored abstinence, didn't have enough detail on drawings of genitalia, didn't include enough talk about gender, or provide enough resources for kids outside of their parents.

One reviewer said. "There is no place for this type of specific values message in a comprehensive curriculum," about this sentence in the curriculum: "Choosing abstinence for sexual activity before marriage is a positive, healthy decision," Never mind that studies show it is a healthy decision. Another said the curriculum "focused on reproduction and makes no effort to address other roles that sexual expression plays in human life."

Make no mistake, only explicit CSE curricula and nothing else will be allowed in schools.