Will Collin Co. Be Ready, If The Swine Flu Hits Hard Next Flu Season?

The Collin County Observer reported yesterday that The Collin County Commissioners Court, in their role as Health Care Trustees for the county, had a meeting with Candy Blair, the county's Director of Health Care Services, to consider a contract with the Texas State Department of Health to purchase anti-viral drugs as part of the county's H1N1 swine flu preparedness plan. (The anti-viral drug is given after exposure to the Flu.)

Ms. Blair explained to the court that the county will only be purchasing 600 doses of the anti-viral drugs for "first responders" and "essential personnel" in the county. According to the Observer report Ms. Blair told the commissioners that the State was only planning to procure 570,000 doses, and those were not for general distribution to the public - even in case of pandemic.

The purpose of the state program is to ensure that in the event of a major epidemic, essential services are uninterrupted. The commissioners asked Ms. Blair to prepare, for court approval, the list of 500 essential employees eligible to receive the anti-viral drugs.

Is this enough for Texas, considering the state has a population of 24,326,974 people? [quickfacts] Is it enough for Collin Co. with a population of 800,000 people? Consider the following article published on July 17, 2009 in the London Times.

The Times Online: Britain's National Health Service (NHS) has been told to plan for a worst-case scenario of 65,000 swine flu deaths this year.

The news came as the number of people to die after contracting the virus rose sharply.

The surge prompted officials to announce the launch next week of the National Pandemic Flu Service, as disclosed yesterday in The Times.

The advice to prepare for 65,000 deaths is based on 30 per cent of the population falling ill. Children under 14 are being hit hardest and the NHS was told to plan for a worst-case scenario of up to half of all children being infected during a first pandemic wave. Sir Liam said there was now “exceptional influenza activity” across most of the country.

The planning model given to the NHS shows that deaths could range from 19,000 to 65,000 if 30 per cent of the population fell ill. In the pandemics of 1957-58 and 1968-70, between 25 and 30 per cent were infected. In the former, 33,000 people died; in the latter it was a few thousand fewer.

The model says that the NHS should prepare for up to 12 per cent of the workforce to be off sick. However, it emphasises that its figures are not a prediction but based on a “reasonable worst-case scenario for planning purposes”.

Great Britain has an estimated population of 60,943,912 people.

Talking About Sex Ed In Texas' Schools

Video: Kathy Miller, Pres. Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, announcing TFN's report on Sex Ed in TX

This blog has published a five part series on the state of sexuality health education in Collin County based on the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund study, “Just Say Don’t kNOw” by Dr. David Wiley, Dr. Kelly Wilson and Ryan Valentine. (A copy of the TFN study can be found online at www.tfn.org.) The five part series is researched and written by Linda Magid, TDWCC member.

All are welcome to attend the July 27th meeting of the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County to hear guest speaker Kathy Miller, Pres. Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, talk about the factually inaccurate sex education information taught to students in Texas' public schools, including Collin County.

Click to read part-1, part-2, part-3, part-4 and part-5. of the five part series on the state of sexuality health education in Collin County published in this blog.

Also read posts Tough Calls On Sex Education In Texas Schools and Conservatives Say No Right To Privacy.

Sex Ed In Collin County Schools - Part 5

WHO MAKES THE DECISIONS ON WHAT IS TAUGHT

This is Part 5 of a 5 part series on the state of sexuality health education in Collin County based on the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund study, “Just Say Don’t kNOw” by Dr. David Wiley, Dr. Kelly Wilson and Ryan Valentine. A copy of the study can be found online at www.tfn.org. The series is researched and written by Linda Magid.

In Part 1 of our series, we gave an overview of the state of sex education in Texas. In Part 2, we looked at how the Texas Education Code deals with sexuality health and what is and isn’t covered in Allen, Frisco, McKinney and Plano ISD classrooms. In part 3 we turned to a frank discussion of the Factual Errors, Lies and Distortions about Condoms and STDs taught in these Collin County school districts. In part 4 we covered how abstinence-only programs base their educational philosophy on fear and shame about sex.

Now, in part 5 we cover who makes the decisions about what is taught in sex ed classrooms and how parents can get involved to help make those decisions.

Sexual Health Education Is Controversial

Parents, teachers, school board members and legislatures have their opinion about what should be taught and at what age.

Texas Legislature defined the roles of state government and local government in Senate Bill 1 (SB1) in 1995 by including the requirement that every school district establish a School Health Advisory Council (SHAC). SB1 also included general guidelines for sexuality education instructions while at the same time charging SHACs with the responsibility of making recommendations to local school boards. Local school boards must listen to both the SHACs and the Texas Education Code while deciding what to teach resulting in a diverse and inconsistent array of instructional materials – guaranteeing that teens across the state are learning different information and likely incorrect information. (“Just Say Don’t kNOw,” Wiley, Wilson and Valentine, pg. 11)

In their study, Wiley, Wilson and Valentine discovered that SHACs are, for the most part, inactive in the area of sexuality health education. Across Texas,

• 64.7% of school districts indicated their SHACs had not discussed the topic of sexuality education in the previous three years.
• 80.5% of school districts could not produce any formal SHAC recommendation on sexuality education instructions.
• 24.8% of districts reported no formal policy at all governing sexuality education – teachers are addressing the sensitive topic of sexuality health education with no guidance or protection from their local school board. (Wiley et al., pg 11-12)

Even for those ISDs with a “functioning” SHAC [“meets regularly and demonstrates an effort to address issues assigned by the Texas Education Code” (Wiley et al. pg 12)], those committees do not guarantee informed, evidence-based recommendations on sexuality education instruction (Wiley, et al., pg. 12). The primary duty of a SHAC is to recommend the number of hours of instruction, appropriate grade levels and methods of instruction for human sexuality education but the TEC does not guarantee that those on the council know how to do this. According to the TFN Education Fund report,

“The TEC includes no requirements that SHAC members have a background in health education, sexuality education, medicine, child development, curriculum evaluation or any other professional background or training that helps prepare a council to make informed recommendations to the local board of trustees.” (pg 12)

With SHACs full of well-meaning but inexperienced volunteers, Texas schools end up with contradicting sexual health information, non-compliance with relevant state law, placing the interest of teachers before the health of students and sometimes putting an ISD in legal hot water.

Perhaps the most damaging impact to our teens is that members of SHACs are mandated to review sexuality health programs for recommendation to the local school board but if the members are not health experts, they can easily be mislead by terrific presentations full of factual errors, misleading information, inappropriate religious content and all manner of other flaws. (Wiley, et al., pg. 14)

Members of SHACs might be enthusiastic about their roles in students’ health, and rightly so. Putting children on a positive track to good health is a real contribution to society. Unfortunately, since the statute establishing SHACs has been rewritten several times, the committee’s role in designing student health curricula on other topics has been expanded (nutrition, exercise, mental health, etc.) and perhaps has watered down the importance of sexuality health education as the primary reason for the SHAC to exist.

The following is information on SHACs in Plano, Allen, Frisco and McKinney. You will find how active (or inactive) the SHACs are and where to find more information or even apply to join these SHACs. (All information on SHAC activity was provided by Texas Freedom Network, which they obtained directly from the school districts under the Freedom of Information Act.)

Plano SHAC

• addressed sexuality education within the last 3 years.
• did not make a recommendation to the school board for sexuality education.
• internet link (http://www.pisd.edu/about.us/advisory.committees/index.shtml) to SHAC explanation and list of members (includes committee application download at top of page) No information on when the council meets or the meeting location available.
• Questions about SHAC (when they meet, for example) are directed to the communications office at (469) 752-8150.

Frisco SHAC

• addressed sexuality education within the last 3 years.
• did not make a recommendation to the school board for sexuality education.
• website (http://www.friscoisd.org/inside/board/committees.htm) says the council meets twice annually. Content under Human Sexuality section is taken directly from the Texas Education Code Section 28.004 “Local School Health Advisory Council and Health Education Instruction” The website offers no clear way to contact the SHAC members or to apply for a seat on the council.
• Call the FISD at 469.633.6000 for information.

Allen SHAC

• The SHAC addressed sexuality education within the last 3 years.
• The SHAC made a recommendation to the school board for sexuality education.
• No information online.
• Allen's SHAC meets twice per year, in November and February. The council is not limited in number, but there are mandated percentages of the makeup – i.e. parents, staff, clergy, etc. The positions are appointed and you need to be nominated by a school principal, or people can apply directly to Mariba Zoller at 972-396-6936.

McKinney SHAC

• addressed sexuality education within the last 3 years.
• made a recommendation to the school board for sexuality education.
• March 14, 2005 SHAC took vote to recommend health texts (noted that teachers and parent have access to the web site which will have updated current health issues)
• November 29, 2005 SHAC had Jeff Friedel, Choosing the Best, gave presentation and discussed changes made to the program from the previous time the committee had viewed 2 years ago. Committee had lengthy discussion. The committee agrees that the sex education needs to be curriculum based, not just a one time shot as AIM for Success has been.
• February 2, 2006 “Over the past two years the committee has been reviewing potential programs that deal with abstinence based sex education. After reviewing several programs, the committee recommends Choosing the Best as the best overall program for McKinney ISD.
• (Agendas/Minutes provided from March 28, 2005)
• website information (http://www.mckinneyisd.net/departments/health_services/shac.htm) provides only one sentence on council’s function, which does not include sexuality health education. Provides meeting dates through the past school year but has not yet updated for next school year.
• Contact Julie Blankenship, committee chairperson by e-mail at jblankenship@mckinneyisd.net or by phone at 469-742-4151 for questions and, we assume, to apply for a position on the SHAC.

As reported in this blog ("Tough Calls On Sex Education In Texas Schools"), Texas received almost $18 million in federal "abstinence-only" funding in 2007, matched by $3 million in state funds in that year. Federal abstinence-only education funding reached a maximum level of approximately $214 million per year during President Bush's second term in 2008. (Abstinence-only advocates don’t want you to know that. See "Abstinence-Only Education Supporters Reference Inaccurate And Out Dated Facts")

While statistics on teen pregnancy in Collin County goes only up to 2004, recent studies from multiple sources show that after falling steadily for more than a decade, the birth rate for American teenagers again started to increase after 2005. The teen birth rate rose by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006 among 15-to-19-year-old girls, after plummeting 34 percent between 1992 and 2005, according to National Center for Health Statistics. Those numbers correlate with the increase in abstinence-only funding by the Bush administration. WE should expect that Texas sees an increase of the same numbers, perhaps an even larger increase.

All of these statistics prove that abstinence-only education doesn’t work. Thankfully the Obama administration knows that and that why sexual health funding includes contraception information in his new budget. The budget still needs to be passed and that part of the budget will absolutely get flack from Conservatives and conservative Democrats. We will need to be diligent in keeping that section in the budget. (This blog has an entry questioning how Texas will change with the new Obama budget at "Tough Calls On Sex Education In Texas Schools")

Currently, Texas schools are no longer mandated to teach health education with the legislature claiming budget constraints. This is a double edges sword, however. On the one hand, if ISDs cut out health they cut out misinformation to teens but on the other hand teens still won’t get the support they need to live a healthy life.

Health classes don’t need motivational speakers and complicated role-playing exercises to learn that using a condom is 98% effective against pregnancy and STDs. Teens need you, their parents, to get involved on their behalf and press the SHACs and school boards to stop using federal and state money on misinformation and scare tactics and get back to the facts. Here is how you can get involved:

1. Request workbooks and textbooks. Review then and make notes on questionable material. Present these concerns in writing to your SHAC and school board. Use the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/) and the Health Education Curriculum Anlaysis Tool (http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/HECAT/index.htm) for support.
2. Ask SHCAC and the school board to vet speakers if they haven’t.
3. Apply for a SHAC appointment
4. Attend school board meetings especially when the agenda includes sexual health curriculum decisions or discussions. Expect them to review current health classes and whether or not to continue them.
5. Encourage medical professionals to participate in SHAC recommendations.
6. Join TFN for state updates on sexual health matters
7. Support Obama’s budget when it comes up for a vote in the U.S. legislature.

Texas teens need us to stand up for them. They need information, not moral lectures and misinformation, to keep them healthy. Not just while they are in high school, but for the rest of their lives.


Click to read part-1, part-2, part-3 and part-4

Related Posts:

• Tough Calls On Sex Education In Texas Schools
• Conservatives Say No Right To Privacy

The Texas Democratic Women of Collin Co. Will Host Guest Speaker Kathy Miller, Pres. Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, At The Group's Meeting On Monday, July 27, 2009. Ms. Miller will talk about the Education Fund's year-long study on sexuality health education in Texas public schools. See the "Calendar Box" in the left sidebar of this blog for more details.

Abstinence-Only Education Supporters Reference Inaccurate And Out Dated Facts

Guardian News UK - Teenage pregnancies and syphilis have risen sharply among a generation of American school girls who were urged to avoid sex before marriage under George Bush's evangelically-driven education policy, according to a new report by the US's major public health body.

In a report that will surprise few of Bush's critics on the issue, the Centers for Disease Control says years of falling rates of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease infections under previous administrations were reversed or stalled in the Bush years. According to the CDC, birth rates among teenagers aged 15 or older had been in decline since 1991 but are up sharply in more than half of American states since 2005. The study also revealed that the number of teenage females with syphilis has risen by nearly half after a significant decrease while a two-decade fall in the gonorrhea infection rate is being reversed. The number of Aids cases in adolescent boys has nearly doubled.

The CDC says that southern states, where there is often the greatest emphasis on abstinence and religion, tend to have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs.

Supporters of abstinence-based education said that the new report shows that there is too little not too much emphasis on discouraging sex before marriage.

Kristi Hamrick, a spokeswoman for American Values, which describes itself as a supporter of traditional marriage and "against liberal education and cultural forces", said the abstinence message is overwhelmed by a culture obsessed with sex.

"It is ridiculous to say that a program we nominally invest in has failed when it fails to overcome the most sexualized culture in world history. Education that emphasizes abstinence as the best option for teens makes up a minuscule part of overall sex education in the United States," she said.

The claim that abstinence-only education "makes up a minuscule part of overall sex education" is based on factually incorrect data promoted by abstinence-only education supporters. For example:

WAIT Training FAQs claims that the “Government spends $12 to promote contraceptives for every $1 spent on abstinence.”

What is missing from this “fact”? It does not give a date on what year they are talking about. Click the FAQ cited link and you come to the Heritage Foundation, which cites itself on the list of proof for abstinence education support. The main Heritage Foundation article cited regarding federal funding was written in 2004 and quotes statistics from 2002, just one year after Bush enacted the Abstinence Only mandate.

Both the Heritage Foundation and WAIT Training still have the information on its website as though the facts have remained stagnant over the past 9 years.

Given how much money Texas alone has received in federal grant money, and that only 3% of Texas ISDs cover abstinence-plus education, clearly any suggestion that abstinence-only education "makes up a minuscule part of overall sex education" is outdated and factually incorrect. But it is a convenient statistic in winning support regardless of how old it is.