PHOENIX โ Facing a barrage of parental criticism, the state Board of Education decided Monday to scrap a proposal to remove certain language from the rules on sex education.
Several members of the appointed board said they are unwilling to consider the kind of changes being proposed, not just by gay-rights advocates on one side but a coalition of parents on the other who want even more restrictions on what can be taught. Armando Ruiz said that is the purview of elected state lawmakers.
โWeโre not the Legislature,โ he said.
Mondayโs decision is most immediately a defeat for Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale, and allies on the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network that sought to remove verbiage that now bans the teaching of โabnormal, deviate or unusual sexual acts and practices.โ Instead, that proposal sought to spell out that sex education instruction must be โmedically and scientifically accurateโ and that courses provide โmedically accurate instructionโ on methods to prevent the transmission of disease.
That provoked a firestorm of protest, with more than four-dozen foes showing up to tell the board to back off. It also raised questions from state Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa.
โWho decides whatโs medically accurate?โ she asked the board, suggesting that scientific studies often reach the result desired by the organization that funded the research.
But board members also chose not to consider vastly different proposals by some parents for what they would change in the rules. Suggestions ranged from requiring that abstinence be the only thing taught in sex education to an outright prohibition on mentioning masturbation, oral or anal sex.
During the approximately four hours of testimony several parents took swipes at state schools chief Kathy Hoffman, who took office in January, for even putting the Quezada proposal on the agenda.
โYouโre injecting your political beliefs,โ said Scott Weinberg, who said he has two children in the Kyrene Elementary School District.
โI understand that you won that election,โ he said. โBut that doesnโt give you the right to change the curriculum for all of our children.โ
Lesa Antone was more direct, focusing on the stateโs low rankings nationally in scores on reading, writing and math.
โWhy donโt you spend more time focusing on that and less time trying to sexualize little innocent babies, because thatโs what they are,โ she said.
โAnd you want to put them in makeup and make them drag queens and make them sexualized individuals,โ Antone continued. โShame on you!โ
Hoffman insisted that she was not trying to push a specific agenda. Instead, she told those in the audience that she was simply putting forward the suggestions from Quezada for the board to consider.
โI thought this was worthy of discussion,โ she said. โI would give the same respect to any senator.โ
But former schools chief Diane Douglas, defeated in last yearโs Republican primary, accused Hoffman of giving โpriority status to your most favorite organization over every other concerned parent thatโs sitting in this room today.โ Douglas did not publicly identify the organization.
Animosity to Hoffman, however, predates Mondayโs proposed rule change.
She used her first State of Education speech to call on lawmakers to repeal a law that prohibits any courses on AIDS and HIV from portraying homosexuality โas a positive alternative lifestyle.โ Hoffman, a Democrat, told members of the House Education Committee at the time that the verbiage โcontributes to an unsafe school environmentโ and leads to discrimination and bullying.
Hoffman got her wish โ but only after gay-rights groups filed a federal court lawsuit and Attorney General Mark Brnovich declined to defend the law.
And the board last month separately repealed an existing rule that had required sex ed classes to โpromote honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage,โ a provision also challenged in the federal court lawsuit and demanded by plaintiffs to drop their lawsuit.
Hoffman also said that sex ed classes operate on an โopt-inโ basis, with parents having to give consent.
โThat is not changing,โ she said. โItโs always the parentsโ choice of whether or not their child participates.โ
Michael Clark, attorney for the Center for Arizona Policy, separately objected to another proposed change which would have allowed โ but not required โ schools to have co-ed sex ed classes.
Madeline Adelman, speaking for the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, said those choices should be left to local school boards.
The board could get some direction from the Republican-controlled Legislature next year on what changes, if any, to make.
Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, vowed to propose a law that forbids sex education of any type before the fifth grade; existing law allows โ but does not require โ schools to provide instruction on AIDS and HIV from kindergarten through Grade 12.
And Allen, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, made it clear sheโs not particularly pleased with what is being taught at all grade levels.
