Oppose H. 1641
by Contacting The Education Committee in Boston
The Joint Committee on Education of
the Massachusetts state legislature recently heard testimony
on House Bill 1641,
"An Act to Provide for a Comprehensive Health Education Program in the Public
Schools."
The Massachusetts Catholic
Conference submitted testimony against H. 1641, joining numerous parents and organizations
opposed to the bill. See MCC
testimony.
The biggest thanks must go to those
who came to the State House on an icy day, endured the uncomfortable conditions associated
with holding a public hearing in a sweltering, too-small, and hard-to-hear hearing room
after waiting for hours stretching into the evening, and delivered their eloquent
testimony or lent their moral support in the audience for our side!
The committee now must decide what
to do with the bill before the mid-March deadline for reporting bills out of committee.
People in the grassroots need to persuade the committee to reject it.
The
bill would make lessons on such issues as sexuality, abortion, and birth
control part of the core public school curriculum. Currently, local public
school committees are not required to include sexuality education in their curricula.
The
bill would force every primary and secondary public school to adopt a standardized
curriculum created by the Massachusetts Department of Education and backed by Planned
Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
This
curriculum, available online, is called the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health
Curriculum Framework. The Framework applies from pre-kindergarten to the
twelfth grade.
The Framework dictates that children
as young as 5 years of age, for example, would have to "Identify the components,
functions, and processes of the reproductive system," "Identify the physical
changes as related to the reproductive system during puberty," and "Define
sexual orientation using the correct terminology (such as heterosexual, and gay and
lesbian)."
The bill conflicts with current law giving parents the
right to exempt their children from sex education classes without fear of penalty.
If the bill passes, then the right to opt out would become a hollow promise, since
children not attending sex education classes would fail to qualify for graduation.
They would lack the requisite "knowledge" contained in the sex education
part of the core curriculum.
All taxpayers, especially parents with children in the public schools, should examine the Framework
(click on the link above).
Call, email, or send a letter
to the House and Senate committee chairpersons to
register your concerns. If you are in
the district of one of the members of the Education Committee, contact that Senator or
Representative too.
If you do not know who your state representative is, go to the website of the Secretary
of State and enter your address to get that information.
(Listed below are the names of all committee members with links
to their contact and district info.)
Your message could be as simple as this: "My name
is ____. I am calling as a concerned citizen [and parent] to register my opposition
to H. 1641 concerning mandating sex education in the public schools . I urge the
Education Committee [or, you as a member of the Education Committee] to reject the
bill."
JOINT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Room 473G
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Committee Members (underlined name links to full contact and district info):
Senate Members
- Antonioni of Worcester and
Middlesex, Senate Chair Tel: (617)
722-1230
- Email: Robert.Antonioni@state.ma.us
Augustus of Second Worcester,
Senate Vice-Chair
Wilkerson of Second Suffolk
Resor of Middlesex and Worcester
Spilka of Second Middlesex and
Norfolk
Brown of Norfolk, Bristol and
Middlesex
- House Members
- Haddad of Somerset, House
Chair Tel: 617-722-2070
- Email: Rep.PatriciaHaddad@hou.state.ma.us
Creedon of Brockton, House
Vice-Chair
Petersen of Marblehead
Kujawski of Webster
LeDuc of Marlborough
Wolf of Cambridge
Nyman of Hanover
Patrick of Falmouth
Walz of Boston
Perry of Sandwich
Ross of Wrentham
Massachusetts Catholic Conference
West End Place, Suite 5
150 Staniford St.
Boston, Massachusetts 02114-2511
(v) 617-367-6060
(f) 617-367-2767
(e) staff@macathconf.org
(w) http://www.macathconf.org
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Dioceses of Fall River, Springfield, and Worcester. The MCC is the public policy
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