November 1, 2007
WHY, OH, WHY, OHIO?
 |
Condoms shouldn't be scary |
The Ohio Department of Education (DOE) has chosen not to apply for a five-year $1.25 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to teach "evidence based" sex education to fight HIV/AIDS, making it one of two states—the other is Utah—to reject such funding. Ohio snubbed the CDC dollars in 2000, as well. Why would these pols actually turn down money?
The DOE now claims it doesn't have the staff to implement the funding or an approved HIV-prevention program to teach. Local advocates think it's more likely the DOE is just advancing the view of legislators, who seven years ago expressed concerns about the promotion of condom-use in a teacher-training program. That year, the legislature instead passed a law requiring that schools stress abstinence as the only 100 percent effective protection against sexually transmitted diseases. When Gov. Ted Strickland came to town this year he vetoed legislation for abstinence-only dollars, and has been supportive of comprehensive sex education.
"The problem seems to be with the words 'evidence based,'" Kevin Sullivan, executive director of the Ohio AIDS Coalition told the Update. "Many in the state legislature are really opposed to comprehensive sex education, and my understanding is that abstinence-only education isn't very evidence-based."
This rejection of funds this year was virtually unknown to those outside the DOE until the Plain Dealer reported on it Tuesday. "States have a great amount of flexibility in deciding just what their strategies for HIV prevention are," Howell Wechsler, director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health told the paper. "Certainly among the 48 states participating in this program, there's a tremendous diversity of approaches."
The Plain-Dealer also published an editorial Thursday lambasting the state government's stance on the funding.
Now that the news about the $1.25 million is out, advocates are taking action, since states have until November 21 to apply for the funding.
Here's what you can do:
- If you live in the Cleveland area, write to the editor of the Plain Dealer thanking them for their editorial. The editor's name is Susan Goldberg, and her e-mail address is sgoldberg@plaind.com.
- If you live outside of the Cleveland area, write to the editor of your local newspaper encouraging them to write an editorial in favor of an Ohio DOE application to the CDC.
For more info or to get involved in the effort, contact Kevin Sullivan at the Ohio AIDS Coalition at 614-444-1683.