Fourteen schools are using a state-provided curriculum at the heart of an ongoing controversy over sex education in Idaho.
The state Department of Health and Welfare confirmed numbers in a recent Idaho Freedom Foundation post on “Reducing the Risk.” But the department disputed many of the hardline conservative group’s claims — and said the curriculum focuses on abstinence.
“(RTR) is about preventing unplanned pregnancy and STDs,” Health and Welfare said in a statement to Idaho Education News. “The goal of RTR is to help students learn how to stay safe and on track with their life goals by not getting STDs or having an unplanned pregnancy.”
The controversy over Reducing the Risk began in September, when the Freedom Foundation said Health and Welfare “implements” a sex ed curriculum that promotes “porn literacy.” Numerous news accounts refuted the foundation’s “porn literacy” claims.
No state agency can implement curriculum, on sex education or any other subject. School districts and charters make those decisions locally. And in its own article decrying Reducing the Risk, the Freedom Foundation seemed to concede as much — undermining its own claim of a state-implemented curriculum. “No one can say how many school districts in Idaho have adopted this curriculum.”
On Monday, the Freedom Foundation posted a followup article, based on a public records request. “Planned Parenthood-endorsed sex ed is in these 14 public schools,” its headline reads.
Idaho Education News filed its...
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