Tug of war over sex education in schools

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The Montgomery County public school system plans to revise its sex-education course, but it first must face the daunting task of reconciling the groups that support and oppose it.

Supporters say they are trying to offer a factual and scientific presentation of human sexuality, including homosexuality, while fending off the repressive impulses of conservative Christians.

Opponents say they are trying to separate fact from opinion in the course and provide the traditional moral views about sexuality that the curriculum ignores or dismisses as being wrong.

Negotiations on the curriculum over the next seven months will determine how children in one of the country's leading school systems are taught about sexuality for years to come.

County schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast this month suspended the course after a federal judge issued a 10-day restraining order against it being taught in a pilot program at six schools.

Both sides will likely participate in revising the course, but each views the other with suspicion.

Curriculum backers accuse opponents of being part of a national conservative Christian agenda to establish biblical law or a theocracy in America, citing President Bush's re-election as an example of the strength of the religious right.

"It can't keep going to the right, or we're going to end up looking like something that is not a democracy. But I don't think we will," said Christine Grewell, a founder of teachthefacts.org, a group that formed to promote the curriculum.

"I think we're very close to the edge, but we need to stop it. We shouldn't step off," Mrs. Grewell said.

On its Web log on April 6, teachthefacts.org posted an entry titled, "Theocrats making their move in our country." It showed a picture of two women covered head-to-toe in Muslim burkas.