WHAT’S GOING ON?

In March of 2021, for the first time ever, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) released a proposal for health education standards written by political activists without input from parents or key mainstream organizations. If approved by the Nebraska State Board of Education, local school boards would be asked to adopt the new health education standards.

The first draft sought to promote abortion and transgenderism, teach children that gender is fluid, and inject activist talking points into curriculum and classrooms.

After several months of feedback and overwhelming opposition from parents, the NDE released a second draft of proposed health education standards.

Parents and educators across the state delivered a clear message to the NDE and State Board of Education, and while this led to much of the most objectionable content being removed, serious issues and questions remain in the second draft.

Concerned citizens continued to speak out, and on September 3rd, 2021, the State Board of Education voted to indefinitely postpone development of the health education standards. The issue can be brought back if a majority of board members vote to re-engage their work on the standards. 

WHAT’S IN THE PROPOSED HEALTH EDUCATION STANDARDS?

Under the first draft of health education standards from the NDE:

• • • Kindergarteners would be taught about cohabitating and same-gender families.
    • First-graders would be taught to define “gender identity and gender-role stereotypes.”
    • Fourth-graders would be taught that sex is “assigned” at birth and gender is fluid.
    • Fifth-graders would be taught that “gender expression and identity exists along a spectrum.”
    • Sixth-graders would be taught about identifying with multiple sexual identities, including “bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, two-spirit, asexual, and pansexual.”
    • Eighth-graders would be taught abortion is “reproductive care” and how to develop a plan to eliminate an unintended pregnancy.

Under the second draft of health education standards from the NDE: 

• • • Seventh-graders would be taught that “biological sex and gender identity may or may not differ.”
    • The term “gender identity” is referenced in a glossary of terms and defined as “internal, deeply held thoughts and feelings about gender.”
    • This standard and definition leaves the door open for the same problematic, ideologically-driven content from the first draft to be inserted into curriculum and classrooms without specifically detailing how it should be done, as the first draft tried to do. 
    • Governor Ricketts pointed out in a response to the second draft that “The continued presence of gender ideology in the standards leaves the door open for this material to be expanded either before these draft standards are approved or in future years when these standards are revisited.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CHILDREN IN NEBRASKA?

The State Board of Education is not required or mandated by state law to write or implement health education standards, but if they choose to do so, it will ultimately influence what schools and educators are expected to teach schoolchildren in Nebraska. 

Parents are the primary educators of their own children, and parents should be left to work with educators at the local level to determine what is and is not appropriate in the classroom for their child—not the Nebraska Department of Education. 

If the proposed health education standards are approved, it will infringe on local control and parental rights and insert comprehensive sex education and unscientific ideology about gender into classrooms.

Kindergarteners and elementary students should not be subjected to sexualized, nonfactual, and age-inappropriate content from their teachers and explicit messages and images in classrooms. The State Board of Education and NDE must let parents and guardians determine how to teach their children about sex education and sensitive topics. 

Children are our greatest gifts. While a culture—and sadly, a government—around us seeks to sexualize our children for the sake of a political agenda, we must protect our children and nurture their minds, bodies, and hearts. We will fight for their innocence and protect them from harm.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

While the health education standards have been indefinitely postponed, our work isn’t done and all Nebraskans must remain diligent in following educational matters at local and state levels.

The State Board of Education can vote to re-engage development of the health education standards at any time if a majority of board members vote to do so.

Every child deserves an education that is suited for their specific needs as guided by their parents, and one that is free from graphic sexual curriculum, the promotion of abortion, and politicized ideas about gender identity and gender expression.

NFA will continue serving as a watchman on the wall—monitoring board meetings, influencing policy, educating the public, and mobilizing the grassroots, while working to defend our values, the rights of parents, and our children’s future. 

To empower parents and local school boards oppose the proposed health education standards, retain local control over their school’s health curriculums, and reaffirm the rights of parents as primary educators of their own children, NFA is offering resolution language for local school boards across the state to adopt in opposition to the proposed standards.

We encourage parents, educators, and all Nebraskans to contact their representative on the State Board of Education, contact and work with their local school board and school superintendent to keep comprehensive sex education out of their school, and remain diligent in following educational matters at local and state levels.

RESOURCES

PARENT ACTION CENTER

Patti Gubbels – District 3
(402) 649-1265
patti.gubbels@nebraska.gov

Maureen Nickels – District 6
(308) 380-3919
maureen.nickels@nebraska.gov

Commissioner Matt Blomstedt
(402) 471-5020
matt.blomstedt@nebraska.gov

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Whether you call or email, please be polite and respectful. Personalize our sample script to make it your own!

Hello, my name is [INSERT FULL NAME], and I live at [INSERT ADDRESS]. I am writing to express my deep concern and strong opposition to the proposed health education standards.

• • • Many of the themes in the proposed health education standards are sensitive topics that should be addressed by parents at home, not by school districts.

• • • The draft health education standards would teach school children politicized, non-scientific, and age-inappropriate information and ideas about sex, abortion, sexual orientation, and gender identity and need to be removed.

• • • It’s unacceptable to insert agenda-driven, comprehensive sex education into health education standards that would teach young children that gender is fluid.

• • • Children are our greatest gifts, and we should work to nurture and protect their minds, bodies, hearts, and innocence.

I urge the removal of sex education topics from the health education standards.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

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