APPROVED!!! - Part 4 of 4
(Download the entire series)

In the two previous posts, APPROVED!!! - Part 2 & Part 3, it was shown that members of the Citizens Advisory Committee for Family Life and Human Development (CAC) had raised three areas of concern to the MCPS Superintendent and Board of Education regarding the process of the development, review, and approval of the new Montgomery County Sex-ed Curriculum.

In this last post we will ask: Did the Committee ignore specific policy statements and procedures of the Montgomery County Board Of Education?

Read on...

1) The Policy of the Board Of Education on Child Abuse and Neglect (JHC) is:

"To require the establishment of procedures and programs which promote staff awareness and recognition of the indicators of child abuse and neglect...".

In the Child Abuse section in the 8th Grade Family Life Human Sexuality curriculum (p.35), the committee refused to include up-to-date government resources and other professional information on pedophilia, which is a form of child abuse. Many of the committee members did not think pedophilia was a form of child abuse and insisted that "child abuse" was not in the Unit (which it is). [1]

2) Ignored the Policy of Board Of Education Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS/HTLV-III Infection) (JPE) which is to:

"Provide employees, students and parents with the virus and accurate information about its mode of transmission".

The committee refused to include up-to-date government resources and professional, peer reviewed papers that support the Sexually transmitted diseases section of the Family Life and Human Sexuality Unit[2], while at the same time approving factually incorrect information about AIDS/HIV in homosexuals from only opinionated unprofessional sources.[3]

3) Is the Maryland Code 13A.04.18.03 is being violated by not including relevant additional resources? [4]

4) The Maryland Code at 120-40 requires that (iii) Sexual variations be included as a subject to be taught.

The code does not specify only certain variations are to be taught. Not all the sexual variations are included in the curriculum or instructional materials, only heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual and transgender. Transgender is a gender identity disorder, but there are about twenty more sexual variations that are mental disorders including pedophilia.[5]

5) The Code at 120-37 requires in #7 "that the students will examine factors that influence the development of interpersonal relationships and sexual behavior". There is no mention in the approved resources of the factors that we know of today that influence the development of sexual behavior as written by scientific personal.[6]

6) The Code at 120-37 requires in #8 that:

"the students will learn to develop and use skills for making responsible decisions about sexual behavior based on its consequences for [the] individual and others".

There is no mention of the risky sexual behaviors, such as sodomy, which contribute to the higher rate of diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, which is more prevalent among homosexuals than heterosexuals [7]. (see also Let's Talk About Risky - Part 2)

7) The Committee repeatedly and consistently twisted procedures and controlled meetings, essentially to have the effect of suppressing discussion and consideration of materials and ideas felt to be contrary to its point of view.

The following are but a few of the more egregious examples of the procedural bias of the Committee and an alleged violation of the basic guidelines and mandates which the Committee is supposed to follow.

With reference to providing a variety of opinions:

8) The Policy of the Board Of Education for the Advisory Committees (BMA) states that a requirement of the committee is:

"to ensure that local school boards will be informed by a variety of opinions [emphasis added] from citizens and staff when considering specific issues, activities and programs.(p.1)"

And,

With reference to responsibilities of the staff liaison and chairman:

"the superintendent will be asked to designate a staff member as liaison to facilitate information-gathering for the committee, to ensure good communication between committee and Board (p.3)"

and,

"All advisory committee chairpersons, with the assistance of staff liaisons upon request, are responsible for preparing the agenda of meetings and sending these together with supplementary materials to committee members, staff liaison person, and the Board of Education Office not later then 5 days prior to the meetings.(p.4)"

The staff liaison and chairman are responsible for the distribution of materials. Iindividual members of the committee are not themselves responsible, as set force in Policy, Board of Education Advisory Committees (BMA).

Clearly, the Board of Education Policy (BMA) for the Committee contemplates consideration, at least, of a "variety of opinions" (and, presumably materials reflecting those opinions) especially when they come from recognized governmental agencies.

Board policy further contemplates that the staff liaison and Committee chair will facilitate distribution of those materials. That this was the intent of the BOE is further reflected by the response from the staff liaison, in November, 2003, when asked if Committee members could submit additional materials as proposed teacher resources. The BOE staff liaison responded affirmatively and that their office would distribute such materials to all Committee members, as had been done in the past.

This, in fact, was done, by e-mail for the December, 2003 meeting.

A second group of materials was sent by e-mail for the January, 2004 meeting. At the January, 2004 meeting, when the materials listed above were proposed for consideration by the Committee, it was noted that new members, who were appointed in January, had not received from the staff liaison the December materials because they failed to send them to the new members. Some members also objected that they were unable to download the January materials. The staff liaison had received the January materials by Fax but refused to make hard copies and mail them out in the January meeting mailings.

Clearly, all members of the Committee needed to have these materials so that they could consider them. However, when it was proposed that BOE Staff copy and mail out these materials so they could be considered at the February 2004 meeting, those who had all the materials objected and called for the Committee to require, for the first time, that the committee members proposing additional material, now be required to themselves copy, index and mail to the other 28 members all the December and January materials. In other words, the new rule would be applied retroactively and just to the proposed materials. Did the Committee not want to include these as teacher resources?

This was clearly an impossible and costly burden on individual members that had never before been required and which had the effect of denying meaningful consideration to the materials.

Did the Committee violate both the spirit and the letter of the Montgomery County Public School's policy and the Maryland Code regarding facilitating distribution and consideration of diverse materials?

Because of the changed procedures for submitting additional information, it was difficult and/or impossible to submit additional information to inform the school board of a "variety of opinions" as mandated by the Policy from the Board Of Education.[8] Besides not being able to include health related information, no additional information on debatable and controversial social, political, legal, and religious issues such as materials on former homosexuals, marriage, adoption, discrimination and tolerance and scientific papers on reorientation therapy were allowed. The approved teacher resources have only the homosexual side of these issues, and thus the teachers can only teach this one side. This proposed additional information would have supplied the Board of Education with opinions which differ from the information in the recommended teacher resources provided.[9]

The Committee procedure was changed by voting to accept 15 of the 8th Grade Curriculum Teacher Resources while discussing only six. There was no opportunity to point out incorrect information or biased opinions from non-professional sources. This failure to consider each resource was a deviation from the protocol of the past where the individual resources were always discussed before being voted on.

Did the partisans of the homosexual curriculum draft it, approve it, and hoped to implement it with the utmost discretionary quiet, distribute it very selectively, and wrap it in a labyrinth of bureaucratic procedures so that it would not see the light of day until so entrenched it would be?



------------------------------------------


[1] The resources rejected were: U.S. Centers for Disease Control-Need for Sustained HIV Prevention Among Men who Have Sex with Men, " In 2000, 59% of reported HIV infections among adolescent males aged 13-19...were attributed to male to male sexual contact", Am. Psychiatric Assn. Pedophilia Fact Sheet, and Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse, Dr. T.J. Dailey.

[2] Six fact sheets from Centers for Disease Control-HIV Diagnoses Climbing Among Gay and Bisexual Men; New CDC Studies Shed Light on Factors Underlying High HIV Infection Rates Among Gay and Bisexual; Young People at Risk; HIV/AIDS Among America's Youth; A Glance at the HIV Epidemic; U.S. Syphilis Rate Climbs for Second Consecutive Year; Need for Sustained HIV Prevention Among Men who Have Sex with Men

[3] Teacher Resources (#6 Journal of Health Education) (#9 Advocates for Youth), (#11 Planned Parenthood Association of Edmonton, Canada), (#13-Recognizing Sexual Myths-National Network for Family Resiliency)

[4] The 8th grade curriculum and the 8th grade teacher resource are in direct conflict with the MCPS Administrative Regulation (IGP-RA) and the Maryland Code 13A.04.18.02 120-40

[5] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from the American Psychiatric Association

[6] Attempts to Modify Sexual Orientation: A Review of Outcome Literature and Ethical Issues, Dr. W. Throckmorton; Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation, Dr. R. Spitzer; Coming Out Straight, R. Cohen

[7] U.S. Centers for Disease Control information.

[8] The Policy of the Board Of Education for the Advisory Committees (BMA) states that the committee, "to ensure that local school boards will be informed by a variety of opinions from citizens and staff when considering specific issues, activities and programs."

[9] What is Reparative Therapy? and Attempts to Modify Sexual Orientation: A Review of Outcome Literature and Ethical Issues, Dr. W. Throckmorton; Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation, Dr. R. Spitzer; Some Causes of Homosexuality-R. Cohen; Same-Sex Sexual Behavior and Psychiatric Disorders, Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study, Drs. Sanford et al. Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol.58, No 1, January 2001, 85-91.

- posted by Bob @ 7:00 AM