¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý

Utah may boast the most restrictive sexual education laws in the country if a new bill passed through the state legislature is signed into law. The new law would restrict schools from teaching any type of sex ed in public schools outside of abstinence and would prohibit discussion on contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. Despite the fact that this bill has passed in both the state House and Senate, there is plenty of opposition to the bill with state lawmakers, educators, and even parents.

About the Bill

Referred to as HB363 and sponsored by Bill Wright (R-Holden), this bill would define sex education in the state of Utah as abstinence-only and would ban schools from providing instruction on sexual intercourse, homosexuality, contraceptive methods, and sexually transmitted diseases. According to , Wright sponsored the bill as a response to what he called “inappropriate material� presented in classrooms. Specifically, Wright was opposed to material produced by Planned Parenthood being distributed to students. Wright said he believes sex education is something that should take place in the home, rather than the school.

Currently, Utah schools are allowed to offer sex-education courses with some restrictions attached. Schools are allowed to provide instruction about sexual intercourse and contraception without advocating for it. The classes are offered on an elective basis, so parents can choose not to have children take the course if they don’t want them to.

“A lot of our schools are already teaching abstinence,� Wright told

A proposal to give state funding directly to high school students, rather than public schools, continues to be hashed out by Utah lawmakers. The bill would take per-pupil funding and put it into a savings account for the individual student, rather than sending it directly to the local school district. This money could then be used by the student to pay for public or charter school, online classes, or even courses at the college level. Like other bills touting school choice, this proposal has been met with strong opinions on both sides of the aisle.

About HB123

The new bill, dubbed HB123, is a proposal that would put money into the hands of students and their parents, rather than the school system. The bill was originally introduced by Republican state Representative John Dougall, according to the Huffington Post. Dougall believes that his bill would offer a number of advantages to Utah high school students, including the creation of more competition between schools, which could raise the bar on the quality of education in the state overall.

“Today what we have is top down funding and we know many of the challenges that come with top down funding,� Dougall told the . “HB123 is what I call grassroots funding where we fund the student rather than institutions.�

Dougall estimates that the current funding amount students would expect to receive from the state would be approximately $6,400 per student, per year, based on

A new bill aimed at the Arizona senate would punish public school teachers who violated Federal Communication Commission guidelines by using profanity and obscenities in the classroom. The bill was introduced by Arizona State Senator Lori Klein, after a parent complained about a teacher who used foul language in his daughter’s class. However, not everyone is in favor of the bill; some say it is an unnecessary measure that should be handled by districts, rather than at the state level.

Origins of the Bill

According to a report at , the original complaint came from Floyd Brown, a parent of a high school student and a long-time Republican strategist. Brown was responsible for the infamous “Willie Horton� ad during the 1998 presidential campaign that some thought played a major role in Michael Dukakis losing the election. Brown told News Day that his daughter, a sophomore, came home from school upset one day because one of her teachers was using the F-word in class.

Brown took the issue to school administrators, but told that the educators did not take him seriously. When his complaints went unaddressed, he pulled his daughter out of the high school, and she is now being homeschooled.

“I’m not going to subject my daughter to that kind of environment,� Brown told CBS News.

Next, Brown took his complaint about the teacher’s language to Klein, since she represented his Arizona district. Klein called the language “totally inappropriate�

As deadlines for No Child Left Behind program began to press on schools nationwide, many states have realized that they would simply be unable to make the standards set by the federal legislation in the time frame allotted. As a result, President Barack Obama has granted waivers to 10 states that requested them, allowing them to free themselves from the sweeping requirements of NCLB. In exchange, these states have pledged to continue their work on academic improvement, both in terms of student performance and evaluation.

Why Waivers Were Necessary

No Child Left Behind was the highly touted and bipartisan legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush. The purpose of the law was to ensure every student in the country was proficient in math and reading by 2014, including traditionally underserved students like those from low-income areas, minorities, students with disabilities and kids still learning the English language.

However, many have complained that the federal system of accountability did not allow states sufficient flexibility in developing systems that worked for their kids, and that it encouraged teachers to simply “teach to the test.� Many states are also showing signs already that they will be unable to meet the federal guidelines in a timely fashion, which has prompted the request for waivers in many states. President Obama recently called No Child Left Behind “an admirable but flawed effort that hurt students instead of helping them,� at .

By providing waivers

When Roy Roberts became the emergency manager of Detroit ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓýs, he took on the nearly impossible challenge of turning around a system that wasn’t doing justice to the nearly 70,000 students currently enrolled in the district. However, instead of shying away from the challenge, Roberts took the proverbial bull by the horns and embarked on a major shake-up that is slated to occur during the next school year. While some are applauding Robertsâ€� efforts, others are concerned about what the changes will mean to students, teachers, and the neighborhoods that many of these schools call home.

School Closures Just the Beginning

From overcrowding in Detroit ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý classrooms to facing bankruptcy, the challenges abound for this Michigan school district. According to the , Roberts plans to close nine public schools next year and convert four more into charters in an effort to repair a broken system. This move is predicted to save Detroit ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓýs $7.5 million in annual operating costs â€� money that Roberts hopes to put towards educating children rather than maintaining empty classrooms.

"Rather than continue to support buildings that are far underutilized…we will consolidate,� Roberts was reported saying at Huffington Post. “We have been using an outdated educational model that we must discard,� Roberts added.

The Detroit Free Press reports that by this fall, Detroit ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓýs will be downsized to around 50,000 students â€� down from the nearly 70,000 currently in the school district and