Opposition to health curriculum continues

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006

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Three letters

It is disturbing to me that the Montgomery County Board of Education, while whining about inadequate funding, continues to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to impose a politically biased health curriculum into our public schools (‘‘Sex ed curriculum opponents weigh in on Montgomery election,” Nov. 7 Gazette.net)

Money was wasted when they refused to compromise with concerned parents and health professionals, and forced this battle into the courts. However, even after losing the court battle, they refused to change their course.

The Board of Education continues to waste taxpayers’ money and not act in good faith by creating a second, equally biased and virtually unchanged curriculum. For example, it teaches students about various sexual practices associated with alternative lifestyles, but does not address serious health risks associated with them.

The schools should not be a political battleground, and our children’s educational funding and health should not be sacrificed to further the goals of political groups. This money is for our children’s education!

The school board should immediately stop wasting taxpayers’ money and stop their obsession with this ill-fated health curriculum. If they don’t, this battle will surely end up back in the courts and more money that should be going to improve education in this county will be wasted.

Board of Education members: Focus on teaching facts, and forget your political agenda! To place our children’s health at risk by pushing through a health curriculum with inaccurate and biased information, is the height of social irresponsibility.

Teressa Wallace, North Potomac

As an infectious disease specialist and Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum representative on the Citizens Advisory Committee, I applaud improvements, such as relying on the National Institutes of Health consensus conference, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control sources for the proposed 10th grade ‘‘condom use demonstration lesson”

However, I am concerned about institutional and committee bias as the lesson recommends condoms for oral, anal and vaginal sex without including the warning that condoms are expected to provide some protection from HIV but actual protection is unknown.

For the safety of students, more than 200 petitioning physicians have requested the Surgeon General’s warning statement that ‘‘Condoms provide some protection, but anal intercourse is simply too dangerous to practice.” These physicians include pediatricians, family practice physicians, internists, gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, infectious disease specialists, and many others, all with an agenda of health.

The warning statements are from resources already being utilized by MCPS for the lesson. There is no reason to exclude these statements, unless one is trying to present an agenda that is not an agenda of health.

I and the more than 200 petitioning physicians call on MCPS and the Board of Education to make these life saving changes to the Condom Use Lesson.

Ruth M. Jacobs, M.D., Rockville

Open letter to Superintendent Jerry Weast and school board members:

The main resource relied on in the 10th grade lesson, ‘‘Respect for Differences,” is a single section from a book by Holt Lifetime Health written for the Los Angeles school system. Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum is particularly concerned with the treatment by this resource of the topic of sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation is a controversial topic with which the professional community is not in agreement. It is imperative that any presentation of this topic to students be accurate, unbiased, complete and inclusive of all responsible points of view.

The Holt resource is inaccurate, incomplete and presents biased, one-sided viewpoints with respect to homosexuality and transgenderism. It is not an appropriate resource for this lesson.

Some examples are:

*The entire Holt section was written by one author who is not medically qualified.

*The resource teaches only that homosexuality is ‘‘morally right” and produces a ‘‘new sense of joy” in those acknowledging it, without any mention of the distress and medical problems associated with homosexual behavior, or that many people of faith strongly disagree with the ‘‘moral rightness” of homosexuality.

*Holt fails to note that all medical professionals consider transgenderism a mental disorder. Holt appears to glorify surgical alteration of the unfortunate mentally ill and treatment with body altering steroids.

*Holt’s statement that sexual orientation is innate is not supported by the scientific community.

*Holt fails even to recognize the existence of former homosexuals or to note testimony regarding their leaving homosexuality.

*Holt’s statistics do not come from a peer reviewed publication.

Montgomery County Public Schools would be wise to scrap this resource.

Michelle Turner, Silver Spring

The writer is president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum.