Some Texas Districts Change Tune on Abstinence-Only Sex Education

As the Obama administration shifts federal funding away from abstinence-only programs in favor of other approaches proven to lower teen pregnancy rates, some Texas school districts are moving to adopt comprehensive sex education curricula. A Texas State University study released in February found that less than 5 percent of state school districts offered comprehensive sex education.

The Austin school district, where the pregnancy rate among high school students had grown 57 percent since 2005-2006, is switching to "Big Decisions," a comprehensive sex education curriculum. "We wanted something that was inexpensive, honest, and gave a lot of attention and support to abstinence," said Dr. Janet Realini, a San Antonio public health expert who developed the program. Available free online, its "key message is, if you're sexually active, you need to use a condom, because it will reduce the risk of [STDs] and reduce the chance of pregnancy," she said.

Big Decisions has also been chosen by the Hays County School district and others in San Antonio, Lufkin, and the Rio Grande Valley. "Our data say that what we're doing isn't working, and our community is ready for us to do something different," said Roy Knight, Lufkin Independent School District's superintendent. The Houston Independent School District, the state's largest, is considering adopting Big Decisions for use next year, said Rose Haggerty, the district's manager of secondary health and physical education.

"Austin LifeGuard" is the abstinence-only program that Austin schools used until this year for the district's required health classes. The faith-based nonprofit Austin LifeCare contracts with about a dozen districts in Central Texas, and about 80 percent of its budget was covered by a federal abstinence grant. "The fundraising initiatives we're throwing around right now are new for us," said Amanda Brown, LifeGuard's program director.

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