4/18/2009

The state of Arizona is seeking more than $1 million in federal aid for abstinence-only sex education classes. Governor Jan Brewer is reversing her predecessors policy on abstinence-only education by accepting federal funding for programs to teach abstinence. Previous governor and now Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, had stopped accepting federal aid for such programs in 2007.

While this does represent a reversal, it may not have much of an impact on classroom curriculum any time soon. Although Napolitano stopped accepting abstinence-only sex education funding from the federal government, most programs are continuing to operate with leftover funds from the original grants.

And because school districts, not the state, determine what sex education programs are used, it is likely that those districts now teaching abstinence-only sex education will continue to do so and districts teaching programs involving birth control and sexually transmitted diseases will also maintain the status quo.

None of the grant money, past or present, goes directly to the schools. The abstinence-only programs are outsourcesd to contractors, mostly non-profit, who develop the curriculum. This will continue as part of the new aid package.

Recent studies from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention show that teen pregnancy in Arizona has been on the rise for the last several years bucking a trend of falling teen pregnancy rates for previous decades.