THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9502010468
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
The state Senate passed a measure Tuesday that would make sex-education programs optional in public schools, a rebound for part of Gov. George F. Allen's beleaguered legislative agenda.
The bill could face grim prospects in the House of Delegates - which thumped a similar measure Monday - but it was still hailed as a sign that proposed Republican reforms are very much alive in the Virginia Capitol.
``I think, quite frankly, that this is a good indication of how some of the governor's proposals will be received if they're allowed to come to a vote,'' said Sen. Mark L. Earley, a Chesapeake Republican who spearheaded the issue.
The State Board of Education currently requires public schools to have family life education programs, but the law does not. Allen has proposed a law that would make sex education optional, and that would require parents' permission before children can take the classes. The plan was killed Monday by a House committee, 11 votes to 4.
In answer to Allen's proposal, opponents offered a bill to make sex education mandatory for all public school systems, and to require that all students attend unless ``opted-out'' by their parents.
For more than an hour Tuesday, Virginia Beach Republican Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle argued to amend the bill and make it like Allen's. He failed. Earley then proposed an amendment that would simply make sex education programs optional. It passed 23-17.
``We're beyond the debate on whether or not we're going to have family life education in Virginia,'' said Earley, who took his fifth-grade daughter out of sex education classes in Chesapeake last year. He said he re-enrolled her this year when he learned she did nothing but watch Walt Disney movies while the classes were being held.
``What's at issue here is whether we're going to impose another mandate on localities,'' Earley said.
Others didn't see it that way. Even before Earley's amendment, the bill did not dictate what type of sex education programs localities must have - only that they have one. And several lawmakers argued that sex education in public schools has led to fewer teen pregnancies and abortions.
The bill's sponsor, Fairfax Democrat Richard L. Saslaw, said most urban areas would likely keep the programs they have now if sex education is made optional. But rural areas would likely make sex education a campaign issue - and possibly eliminate it.
``If they choose to placate a narrow spectrum of people within one political party, then so be it,'' Saslaw said.
Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax, predicted some localities will eliminate sex education in public schools, because of ``right-wing, religious pressure.''
``This moment, in my judgment, is a sad one for the commonwealth,'' Gartlan said. ``Particularly for the children of the commonwealth.''
For Republicans, Tuesday's debate was a small victory for an agenda that has been ravaged of late by Democratic opposition. Allen's proposed charter schools plan also failed in a House committee Monday, and his plans to cut taxes and spending programs have struggled to stay alive.
But the issue of state-imposed mandates to local governments has long been a touchy one, and Republicans are using their heightened influence to push for a less intrusive state government.
Five Democrats voted for Earley's changes. Sen. Warren E. Barry, R-Fairfax, supported and even co-sponsored the original bill, but voted for Earley's amendment anyway.
``It's tough to take local school boards, who are elected by the people, and mandate something like this on them,'' Barry said. He also acknowledged that he voted for Earley's amendment because all the other Republicans did.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY SEX EDUCATION by CNB