Dallas Morning News (11.09.09) - Thursday, November 19, 2009
Jessica Meyers

"When you see the alarming percentage and numbers of kids pregnant vs. the national average, you start to wonder what everyone is doing that [the figures] are so high," said Renee Putter, director of athletics as well as the physical education and health coordinator for the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district.

Texas ranks first among states in government spending on abstinence-oriented sex education, yet it has the nation's third-highest teen pregnancy rate and the highest percentage of teen mothers who have given birth more than once.

Federal funding that once flowed freely for abstinence education may dry up. The Obama administration wants to replace $145 million targeted for abstinence education with $164 million for a broader curriculum that could address contraception.

At the state level, legislators have passed a law that places greater responsibilities with school health advisory councils and requires districts to explain their sex education curriculum to parents.

"We've found that parents think their local districts are teaching more," said Dan Quinn of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates comprehensive sex education. According to a report from a branch of Quinn's group, 94 percent of Texas school districts teach abstinence only, 4 percent teach inaccurate information about contraception, and 2 percent avoid the topic altogether.

Several school districts, including the one comprising Dallas' schools, have opened up the discussion on expanding or revamping their sex education curriculum.

Nevertheless, there is not yet a sea change in the state's approach to abstinence. The privately funded Aim for Success, the nation's largest provider of abstinence education, says no Texas district has discontinued its program.
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