With a stroke of the pen, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB2601 — a bill co-sponsored by Planned Parenthood — making comprehensive sex ed mandatory for all students in grades 7-12, even those in charter schools. While California charter schools are required to be nonsectarian, the fact remains that many parents choose charters to give their students a more focused education in arts, sciences, or academics. And now, even those focused on specialty disciplines will be required to teach all the components of California’s Healthy Youth Act.
Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the ACLU all celebrated this expansion of the law:
Here’s some good news for your timeline: PPAC co-sponsored sexual health education bill for ALL public school students #AB2601 just got bipartisan vote in Sen. Education Committee. TY 2 @AsmShirleyWeber #educationequity #CALeg #healthyyouth
— Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (@PPActionCA) June 20, 2018
Thank you for speaking with us @DrShirleyWeber and for authoring #AB2601, am important piece of legislation for CAs youth! pic.twitter.com/dUOTKFIeTv
— PPPSW Action Fund (@pppswaction) June 12, 2018
All young people in California, including those who attend charter schools, deserve access to high-quality, comprehensive sexual health education. Let’s work together to empower young people and pass #AB2601. https://t.co/L7s8g76BNo
— NARAL Pro-Choice California (@ProChoiceCA) August 18, 2018
#ICYMIMonday: @JerryBrownGov signed @AsmShirleyWeber‘s #AB2601 into law! Now all charter school students will get equal access to the comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education they need to lead healthy lives. pic.twitter.com/Fsa4H58ZUQ
— San Diego ACLU (@sdACLU) September 24, 2018
But not everyone’s celebrating. The Capitol Resource Institute said:
The California Department of Education, in its information on charter schools, says:
Innovative charter schools provide programs that offer everything from an emphasis on foreign languages to performing and fine arts. Some charter schools develop partnerships with other public agencies (such as the California Conservation Corps, or local community colleges), and some provide specialized programs (such as a program to place students in work experience settings or a Youth Build Program). Although most charter school students attend site-based programs with the look and feel of a traditional classroom, other students participate in programs with research-based alternative learning modalities (such as the Montessori method) or programs that are tailored to the needs of the individual student (such as nonclassroom-based instruction). In some cases, charter schools focus on dropout recovery, providing a second chance to students who wish to pursue a high school diploma but who have not been successful in other settings.
Now, every one of those unique programs will be teaching the same sex ed curriculum. Breitbart reports:
“We are thrilled that all students, regardless of the school they attend, will receive adequate and comprehensive reproductive health education that will enable them to make the best decisions for their life and future,” said Sarah Hutchinson, Act for Women and Girls policy director….
In April, parents across the nation pulled their children out of school to protest comprehensive sex education programs that have become steeped in gender ideology and promotion of abortion by LGBT advocacy groups and Planned Parenthood.
Breitbart also points out:
Planned Parenthood’s Get Real program is a Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) curriculum that assumes all young people will be sexually active. In addition to teaching children about contraception and abortion, the program focuses on LGBTQ issues and terminology.
In Grade 6… it introduces students to the “key Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills” they will supposedly need to be able to discuss sexual relationships and how to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
… in Grade 7, students also discuss sexual identity and “examine the myths and facts about sexual orientation.” They also learn how to use a condom and review the use of hormonal contraception, including emergency contraception after sexual intercourse.
Former Planned Parenthood educator Monica Cline, interviewed by Breitbart, compared Planned Parenthood’s comprehensive sex ed to the grooming techniques used by sexual predators on their victims.
It remains to be seen if this comprehensive sex ed decision will motivate more parents to protest and/or pull their children out of charter schools, as well.
