Maine: Sex Education Course Fails State's Test

On Friday, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) informed all school district superintendents that the curriculum of the federally funded abstinence group Heritage of Maine does not meet the state's comprehensive sex education requirements. Other abstinence-only or abstinence until marriage programs also fail to meet standards of state law and Maine Learning Results, the two-page letter stated.

"We have been asked to clarify this, and we hope this informational letter does that," said Greg Scott, DOE's legislative coordinator. Scott said this was the third such letter regarding Heritage; these were written to satisfy a number of questions that districts had after Heritage contacted them about providing its alternative approach to sex education. Scott said the letter was not a judgment on Heritage or programs like it, but that the department is not endorsing Heritage's curriculum or working with the group.

Heritage officials said they were disappointed but not surprised. Maine's DOE is not taking sex education seriously enough, despite a "bona fide epidemic" of teen STDs, said Mary Schiavoni, president of Heritage, which receives most of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "We are succeeding in making a positive impact in the lives of children in Maine. The teens are telling us this fact themselves," she said.

Schiavoni said Heritage would continue to work on adding schools to its program, which emphasizes abstinence and building behavioral skills to refrain from premarital sex.

Back to other news for August 24, 2005