School District OKs Abstinence Curriculum

Trustees in Orange County’s largest school district approved a controversial health curriculum late Tuesday on the condition that a new textbook that pushes abstinence be supplemented with information that covers birth control alternatives.

Sex education has long been a controversial issue in the Santa Ana Unified School District, located in a city where the teen birth rate is double the national average. The school board’s 4-1 vote came after scores of parents, teachers, community members and activists packed the board’s chambers in support of the action.