Community Involvement in Public School Education

The updating of the New York City Board of Education's (the "Board") sex education curriculum, affecting thirty-two Community School Districts and almost 1000 schools, should sound a warning for parents and communities across the state and the country.It is time to begin asking questions in local schools about the existing sex education curriculum, and any plans to change either the curriculum or the materials associated with it, if one believes that promiscuous behavior among our young is wrong and unhealthy; that sexual intercourse is best reserved for marriage; that individuals should learn self-control in sexual activity; that birth control distribution and abortion referral is not the job of the public school; that parenthood with marriage is preferable to parenthood without marriage; and, that there does exist a common societal code of right and wrong sexual behavior.The revamping of this particular curriculum-officially titled Family Living Including Sex Education by the New York City Board of Education, Office of Curriculum Development and Support, Division of Curriculum and Instruction-has been, since its debut, the target of much deserved criticism by alarmed parents, educators, and clergy who have not been offered an opportunity for input.While some positive changes have occurred because of the present vocal activity, the program still is lacking in basic, commonly-held values.It does not encourage marital faithfulness, premarital abstinence or individual self-control.Parental involvement in the contraceptive and abortion decisions of children is noticeably absent.In fact, time is allotted in the curriculum to instruct students that parents have no rights in these areas unless a child specifically grants