Michigan lawmakers, education officials clash over new sex ed draft

Members of the Michigan House Oversight Committee pressed state education officials in October over proposed health and sex education standards on Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer topics and sex identity.

Acting Superintendent of Public Instruction Sue Carnell testified before the committee about the Michigan Department of Education’s draft Health Education Standards Framework, which offers curriculum recommendations for local districts.

Committee members disagreed with the Michigan Department of Education’ interim leader over the new draft of curriculum recommendations.

Rep. Jaime Greene, R-Richmond, asked Carnell about what the new standards.

Greene referenced several pages in the document which encourage educators to weave sex education and health into all areas of curriculum.

“On page seven it says a clear articulation of social emotional competencies integrated into all areas of content,” said Greene.

This was in reference to the draft’s call for “a clear articulation of social and emotional competencies that can apply across the school curriculum and be integrated into any area of content.”

Greene referenced other pages which use similar language. This makes it possible to embed sexual health and identity material through the English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Math curricula, Greene said, without boundaries or parental notification, a violation of state law.

Local sex education advisory boards approve the curriculum, Carnell responded. But Greene said the result would be that kids might get a piecemeal education if they can’t be included in certain lessons because of the sexual content.

Greene also took issue with Carnell’s recommendation that a child who has been given LGBTQ training can, after the fact, notify his or her parent, who then can go to the principal and school board.

“The issue isn’t whether parents can opt out, as clearly stated by the acting superintendent,” Greene told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email. “They can. The problem is that they won’t know when to.“

Green pointed to “potential for learning loss and a continuing exit from public education if the new standards are adopted the way it is presented.”

“Under the proposed standards, sex education would not be ‘woven’ into other subjects such as English or social studies,” said Bob Wheaton, office of public and governmental affairs at the Michigan Department of Education.

He added that the standards are specific to a sex education unit a local district may decide to include as a part of its health education curriculum.

The inclusion of gender theory material in other subject areas would only be specific to elementary grades, according to Wheaton, where the classroom teacher could cover general health topics like nutrition and physical activity.

“Including a book with an LBGTQ character is not sex education and is not related to the health education standards,” Wheaton concluded.

Rep. Brad Paquette, R-Niles, is another member of the committee who does not agree with the proposed curriculum

“The proposed changes are ripe for legal action as they will embed gender theory, among other controversial political topics, into curriculums where they simply do not belong,” Paquette told CapCon in an email.

Districts, according to Paquette, will be encumbered with opt-out requirements as many parents reject activist concepts that she said do not belong in any curriculum, let alone a health curriculum.

Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat from Livonia, is also a member of the committee. She was supportive of the health standards during the hearing but did not respond to a request for comment.