Education Town Halls Scheduled In Ward 7 and 8

Mayor Adrian Fenty wants to hear your ideas for improving the District's Public School System. The Mayor will hold town halls in every ward with to capture input from parents, teachers, and students.

The first two of these forums are in Ward 7 and Ward 8. The Ward 8 Town Hall will be Tuesday May 29th at 6:30 PM at Johnson Junior High, 1400 Bruce Place, SE. The Ward 7 Town Hall will be Tuesday June 5th at 6:30 PM at Smothers Elementary, 4400 Brooks St, NE. click here to download the flyer with details on these two events.

Mayor Fenty needs to hear that every young person has the right to honest and accurate information about how to be protected from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy, and that comprehensive sex education in our public schools must become a top priority.

If you attend these events I encourage you to tell Mayor Fenty you support comprehensive sex education in our public schools.

I also encourage you to ask the following important question. Is the Mayor ready to reject the abstinence-only-until marriage federal funding that the District currently accepts?

As you may know, a broad coalition of youth-serving organizations have written a letter asking Mayor Fenty to reject the abstinence-only-until-marriage federal funding.

The broad coalition of organizations that signed on to the letter include: DC Fights Back, City Year Washington DC, DC Primary Care Association, Girls Incorporated of the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, The Latin American Youth Center, Metro TeenAIDS, Sasha Bruce Youth Work, Young Womens Project, and Youth Action Research Group. To see the complete list read the letter.

The American Medical Association has rejected abstinence-only-until-marriage education. They support teaching abstinence as well as honest and accurate information about HIV and pregnancy prevention.

The Mayor however, has yet to commit to rejecting the abstinence-only-until-marriage federal funding. (This funding also requires a local match, meaning your local tax dollars go towards an HIV prevention program that medical experts agree doesn't work).