Hello Healthy Futures Community, We are in the last days of the legislative session and are at a crucial junction. The Senate just passed an amended version of HB 890 with numerous harmful provisions:
- Previously, parents could opt their kids out of sex education if they opposed the
instruction. In 2021, the legislature implemented a requirement that students get written consent from their parents in order to participate in sex education. The opt-in requirement expires in 2024, but HB 890 would make it permanent.
- The Senate added "don't say gay" language to HB 890. Every child should feel safe in the classroom, but these draconian restrictions would harm our LGBTQ students and also put teachers at risk.
- The Senate also added language requiring parent consent for surveys, including important public health data like the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Texas Youth Tobacco Survey. Studies show that by requiring parent consent for this type of survey, we
systemically exclude the very students who are most at risk for bad health outcomes, resulting in skewed and misleading data.
The original version of HB 890, filed by Rep. Keith Bell (R - Forney) was a simple bipartisan bill with none of these harmful components. Rep. Bell served as a school board trustee for 20 years. We need everyone to call or email Rep. Bell today or tomorrow and ask him to not concur on HB 890, and to remove these harmful provisions. Email: Link Phone: (512) 463-0458 What can you say? - “I think that opt-out policies for sex education are better for Texas kids. Many families fail to return opt-in forms because they simply overlook them or forget about them – and research shows that kids who are the most at-risk for outcomes like teen pregnancy are the ones whose parents are least likely to manage to return the paperwork. But if we make opt-in permanent, please take steps to remove administrative red tape and make these laws easier for our overworked teachers to comply
with.”
- "Please don't allow "don't say gay" restrictions to pass. These laws harm kids who already face bullying and mental health challenges. Local school health advisory councils already vet health curriculum to make sure it aligns with community values."
- "Please remove the provision requiring parent consent for surveys. This provision would wreck important data that the state collects on topics like youth tobacco use, teen pregnancy risk, and mental health. We need accurate data to build effective prevention programs."
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