Local School Districts Still in Charge

Local School Districts Still in Charge

Local school committees have always been in charge of what is taught in their schools about sex education, but some of them have tried to pass-the-buck by telling complaining parents that they are only doing what is required by the state.

When a parent in Nauset was told this by the chairman of her school committee, MassNews contacted the Department of Education in Boston but could not get an answer from them. So we went directly to then Chairman of the State Board of Education, James Peyser, who gave us an interview in which he said that this is definitely a local decision.

“This is a text book case of an issue [the material to be chosen for sex education classes] that needs to be resolved locally. People need to grapple with it locally and if the state tries to impose itself, not only is that going to lead to problems in terms of implementation at the local level, but is also one of those things where you have to be careful what you wish for.”

Therefore, he warned, “If you establish the state’s primacy in this area, that means whatever the statewide political winds yield is what you have to live with.”

Margot Abels used to visit five different schools across the state each year and teach a Fistgate type class in those schools where she had been invited. But neither she, nor anyone else, is doing that any more, we are told. (Abels has not indicated whether she will return to her job at the state or just accept the back pay.)

The outrage from the public happened “right in our state and so people ran scared,” Abels said. She noted that “other groups who served gay youth were fearful of losing government funding and did not speak out against what happened.”

But a spokesman for the Department says that the program continues without interruption. It is true that AIDS teachers are no longer allowed to have direct contact with students. Instead they deal only with the teachers. But nothing else has changed. “The grants haven’t changed, our commitment to the program hasn’t changed,” the spokesman told Bay Windows.

But Abels disputes that, according to the newspaper, saying that “what she’s hearing is that since her firing, educators are more cautious in their approaches to answering kids’ questions, perhaps at the expense of providing them with valuable information.”

To find the full text of the Peyser interview, search the archives for “Peyser.”