Originally published on May 27, 2021 1:35 pm
Democratic state lawmakers want to adopt state sex education standards that are aligned with a national model. But Republicans say the national standards would require teachers to present explicit material at too young an age.
In Illinois, public schools aren’t required to offer sex education courses. Earlier in the spring legislative session, State Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Addison) proposed mandating sex ed and aligning that curriculum with culturally competent and medically accurate standards.
“Things are not being taught in schools and students are exploring the Internet on their own and they can end up with misinformation, and that is not what we want to see,” Willis said at a House committee hearing earlier this week.