Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 08:12:08 -0800 (PST) To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Jessea NR Greenman) Subject: Action Alert -- Attack on AIDS education in CA || "Parental Rights" Movement (federal, CA, and PA bills) Religious political extremists and conservatives in the CA state legislature are trying to revise existing state education code to require that parents must give prior written consent before their children in grades 7-12 would be permitted to attend regular AIDS, STD, or sex education classes. Parents would also be allowed to inspect instructional materials teachers plan to use. The bill requires that 15 days prior notice be given to parents and that only those children whose parents affirmatively consent would be allowed to receive such instruction. The bill, AB 2248, is currently in the CA state assembly. Its Assembly author is Republican Steve Baldwin of San Diego. Its Senate co-author is Quentin Kopp of San Francisco (Independent). The public testimony in the Assembly Education Committee (chaired by Baldwin) was decidedly homophobic, with proponents of the bill indicating that AIDS and sex education classes are ideal recruiting grounds for homosexuals. The bill passed easily out of the Assembly Education committee. It is based on a few cases in which it is argued that outside speakers got out of hand and exposed students to "alternative lifestyles"-- the case in San Francisco (CUAV) and another "incident" in Ventura County. WE URGE YOU TO WRITE TO YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBERS NOW! To find out legislative information such as members, committees, bill status, etc. go to URL: http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/access/guides/uguide.htm Below is a list of all CA Assemblymembers who have a published e-mail address as of January 1996. These addresses were found at: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/DOList.html Fred.Aguiar@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Tom.Bates@assembly.ca.gov Jim.Battin@assembly.ca.gov Tom.Bordonaro@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Debra.Bowen@assembly.ca.gov Valerie.Brown@assembly.ca.gov James.L.Brulte@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Cruz.Bustamante@assembly.ca.gov Louis.Caldera@assembly.ca.gov Mickey.Conroy@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Dominic.Cortese@assembly.ca.gov Jim.Cunneen@assembly.ca.gov Denise.Ducheny@assembly.ca.gov M.L.Figueroa@assembly.ca.gov Brooks.Firestone@assembly.ca.gov Peter.Frusetta@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Jan.Goldsmith@assembly.ca.gov Brett.Granlund@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Dan.Hauser@assembly.ca.gov George.House@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Phil.Isenberg@assembly.ca.gov Howard.Kaloogian@assembly.ca.gov William.Knight@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Steven.Kuykendall@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Mike.Machado@assembly.ca.gov Diane.Martinez@assembly.ca.gov Bruce.A.McPherson@assembly.ca.gov Kevin.Murray@assembly.ca.gov Willard.Murray@assembly.ca.gov R.K.Olberg@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Curt.Pringle@assembly.ca.gov (ally) James.Rogan@assembly.ca.gov (ally) Brian.Setencich@assembly.ca.gov John.Vasconcellos@assembly.ca.gov Ted.Weggeland@assembly.ca.gov (ally) If you are using snail mail, you may write your Assemblymember at [insert your Assemblymember's Name] State Capitol Sacramento CA 95814 Below are some points and facts you may wish to make in your letters. Ben Schatz, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association believes the bill dangerous to the health of children. "Do we really want to be encouraging parents to hold their children's life hostage to political ideology?" he was quoted as saying in the Bay Area Reporter March 28. Fred Dillon, Legislative Analyst for AIDS Project Los Angeles, argues the following salient points against AB 2248 in a March 18 letter to Baldwin (which was cc'd to all members of the Assembly's Education Committe): "AIDS has now become the leading cause of death among those aged 25-44. It is estimated that one in four new HIV infections in the U.S. are among people under age 20. In California, over 12,500 cases of AIDS have been reported among those aged 20-29 It is highly likely that the majority of these young adults were infected at some point during their adolescence. Moreover, in a 1987 study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in seven teenagers had contracted a sexually transmitted disease such as gnorrhea, herpes, chlamydia, or syphilis. "We are very concerned that AB 2248 will result in many students failing to receive preventive instruction to protect themselves from such infections. The parental consent form may be lost or parents may forget to send it in. Some parents who might not have *prohibited* their child from obtaining such instruction may be reluctant to sign a consent form *allowing* their child to attend. As a result, numerous students who are currently receiving such prevention instruction which could protect them from HIV could miss out on such an opportunity under AB 2248, resulting in increased HIV infections among California youth. "AIDS Project Los Angeles supports parents having the choice as to whether or not their child receives such education; HOWEVER, THIS IS ALREADY THE CASE. Under current law, parents must be provided with written notice explaining the purpose of AIDS instruction and if the parent does not approve of the child receiving such instruction, the parent can request that their child be kept out of these classes. The reality is that many more parents support their children receiving AIDS and sexuality education than those that do not. Since this is the case, why should the burden be placed on those that would like their children to receive such education -- as would be the case under AB 2248 -- rather than on the minority of parents who wish to prohibit their child from receiving this education? "In addition, this bill eliminates control by local school districts. Under current law, local school districts can choose to require positive parental consent before providing AIDS prevention instruction. AB 2248 takes this option out of the school district's hands and instead imposes positive parental consent on all school districts in California... "Finally, this bil will result in skyrocketing costs for these vital prevention programs. When similar positive parental consent notification requirements were considered in the past for AIDS education, the Department of Finance estimated that parental notification costs would jump from $50,000 to over $1.08 million." [Fred Dillon is online at FPDillon@aol.com] Brenda Romney, Legislative Advocate for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, makes the following points in HER March 18th letter to Baldwin: "Health education is critical. [...] Respect for parental rights is critical. [...] Existing law balances respect for parental rights and the critical need for health education. A 1995 Field Institute Poll released by the California Center for Health Improvement finds that while 97% of Californians endorse proposals aimed at encouraging parents to talk more to their kids about teenage pregnancy, 90% also supported establishing more school based education programs about pregnancy prevention." [Brenda Romney can be reached at 916 446 5247] ------------------------------------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 20 Mar 96 10:48 EST From: Maggie Heineman Subject: Parental-Rights Movement March 20, 1996 Today's Family Issues Alerts has a story on the Parental Rights Movement, pushing HR 1943 the "Parental Rights and Responsibilities" Act. It says that an upcoming Focus on the Family radio program will feature a discussion of the pending federal PRRA and that Rep. Largent (R, OK) the bill's prime sponsor says that it now has 140 cosponsors in the House. Family Issues Alerts also reports on the progress in California on ACA 30 which most closely resembles the PRRA. In Pennsylvania, the bill which resembles the PRRA is HR 2103. "Culture Watch" has an excellent summary of the "Parental Rights Movement" in its March, 1996 issue. [...] =========forwarded message follows =========== Contributed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association's Committee for the Preservation of Public Education. HB 2105 -- LOCAL CONTROL RESTORATION ACT This contradictory piece of legislation voids community decisions already made and usurps local control. The title misrepresents its intent. HB 2105 is sponsored by Rohrer, Gamble, Pitts and others and contains the Parental Rights Amendment favored by the hard right. Control is not shifted to the local community but to individual parents. HB 2105 gives individual parents the right to remove their children from any course or activity and gives teachers the right to refuse to teach. It promotes organized disruption of school activities. HB 2105 mandates the content and length of courses, restricts instructional methodology and prohibits using student performance for grading, promotion or graduation. Communities which have invested months in determining their educational goals and making plans to reach those goals, could find all their hard work trashed by this bill's mandates. In addition, much of the work of the State Board of Education is overridden where this proposal reverses Chapter 5 planning, curriculum, testing and regulations. This piece of legislation goes so far as to mandate that all children be successful readers under one, and only one, teaching method -- phonics. By placing exclusive authority for determining course content and methodology in the hands of the school board, HB 2105 robs students of the contribution of professional educators. HB 2105 is very confusing as well as ill- conceived. The school board, whose members don't have to have any education, gets to decide what and how students will be taught. But teachers don't have to teach it and students don't have to learn it. Schools are to be judged by their test results, but students aren't to put their names on the tests so educators will know who needs help. Parent's are to have "supreme authority and control" but schools can't ask parents to get involved and can't require counseling or training for parents. Schools are supposed to return to family values, but can't ask students what their values are--and then can't talk about attitudes or habits that affect their ability to learn. Instead of true local control, HB 2105 prohibits communities from making educational decisions in the best interests of their children. Maggie Heineman Communications Working Group Fight the Right Network ==== end of forwarded message ======= *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ YOU MAY RE-POST. Jessea Greenman The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) CHECK THIS OUT FOR TONS OF INFO - - http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/ Please cc us (for our files) on correspondence you send or receive re our action alerts.