Keep parents in the dark so their children's minds can be sexually abused? I think the survey is tainted already.
I have a friend who was called up with a similar "survey", and there was another one on FR a few days ago in NH. This must be a concerted assault.
It's time for people who don't want the world to become the secular humanists' whorehouse to get riled up.
Educator and community activist. Consulted for the Dallas Independent School District. M.A. from New York University and B.A. from the City College of New York. Served on PTA boards at Stratford Landing Elementary, Sandburg Middle, and West Potomac High Schools. Served on several FCPS advisory committees such as those for foreign language textbook adoption, foreign language curriculum, and gifted and talented. Served on the board of directors for United Community Ministries and for Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services. Member of the Mount Vernon Coalition and the Mount Vernon School-Community Coalition. Board Service 2000-present.
Former reference librarian with Fairfax County Public Library. M.L.S. from the University of Maryland and B.A. from Good Counsel College. Former president of the Virginia PTA and the Fairfax Public Library Employees Association and vice president for legislative activity, National PTA. Consultant on the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education. Member of the League of Women Voters and the Fairfax Committee of 100. Served on Virginia Advisory Committee for the Education of the Gifted and FCPS Advisory Committee for Special Education. Coauthored "The Connection: A Citizen's Guide to Effective Involvement in Fairfax County Public Schools." Board service 2000-present.
B.A. in political science and history from Hofstra University. Member, Hayfield Elementary School, Edison High School, and Hayfield Secondary School PTAs. Odyssey of the Mind problem-solving coach, former Hayfield PTA board member, and former Tartan Village Community Association board member. Board service 1996-present.
B.S. in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh. Appointed to the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure by the Virginia Board of Education and to the Education Advisory Committee of the Council on Information Management by then Virginia Governor George Allen. Serves on the board of the Fairfax Partnership for Youth and chairs the Treatment and Enforcement Task Force. Volunteered service to PTA committees, classrooms, youth sports, and her church. Board service 1996-present.
Retired director of the Office of Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. M.P.A. from American University and B.S. from Howard University. Completed the executive education program of the Federal Executive Institute. Served as consultant for the National School Boards Association (NSBA). Son and daughter attended FCPS from kindergarten through 12th grade; now, UVA and Harvard graduates. Board chairman 1999 and 2000. Board service 1978-85, 1989-93, and 1996-present.
Senior trial attorney for the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Tax Division. Five-time recipient of the Tax Division's outstanding performance award. J.D., cum laude, University of Minnesota Law School and B.S. in journalism from Northwestern University. Former legislation chair for Fairfax County Council of PTAs and former copresident of the Lake Anne Elementary PTA. Member of Reston Optimists. An avid choral singer and father of two daughters, both of whom are FCPS graduates.Board service 1996-present.
Head Start teacher for 24 years in public schools. M.A.T. in early childhood education from Trinity College and B.A. from Howard University. Parent of two graduates of FCPS. School-related involvement includes Oakton High School Band Boosters and member of the Superintendent's Community Advisory Council. Past chairman of the Fairfax County Child Care Advisory Council, and steering committee member for the Fairfax Alliance for Human Services. School Board Vice Chairman 2001. Board service 1996-present.
Advocate for parent and community involvement in public schools for over 20 years; 16-year Mason District resident. Has been PTA president at Sleepy Hollow Elementary and Glasgow Middle Schools and PTA board member at Stuart High School. Served on the Fairfax County Council of PTAs and the Fairfax County Community Action Board. Program development and management positions include project analyst, Fairfax County Department of Community Action, and executive director, S. B. Moon Senior Center--South County Transportation. Two sons who are FCPS graduates and a daughter who is currently an FCPS student. Board service 1999-present.
B.A. degree from Muhlenberg College; was an elementary school teacher; served as a member of the Superintendent's Accountability Advisory Council; former Vice President of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs; former PTA President of Chantilly High, Rocky Run Middle, and Poplar Tree Elementary Schools; mother of 3 children who are current FCPS students and one who graduated June 2002. Board service March 2002 to present.
Active in education for more than 25 years. Former elementary and preschool teacher. M.A.T. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and B.A. from George Washington University. Past president of the Franklin Sherman PTA and the Fairfax County Council of PTAs and past chair of the Council's education and budget committees. Served on the FCPS Career and Technical Preparation Task Force, the Fairfax Framework for Student Success, the Division Planning Committee, and the Area III Superintendent's Advisory Committee. Cochaired the 1993 Citizen's Bond Committee. Chair of the School Board budget committee 1996-99. School Board vice chair 2000 and chairman 2001. Mother of one current FCPS student and three FCPS graduates. Board service 1991-93, 1996-present.
National spokesperson for Concerned Women for America. Former director of public relations and communication, Office of the Springfield District Supervisor. J.D. from Georgetown University, M.A. in international law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School, and B.A. in political science from Regis College. Appointed by then-Governor Allen as Virginia's representative to Education Commission of States. Chair Emeritus of Republican Black Caucus for Virginia. Was parent volunteer at Orange Hunt Elementary and soccer coach for the Springfield Youth Club. Was on the PTA board at West Springfield High School. Board service 2000-present.
Owner of CW Accounting Services. B.A. from American University. Fairfax County resident for 25 years. Member of Superintendent's Advisory Council, Middle School Language and Grammar Textbook Advisory Committee, and Task Force on Middle School Grading. Was vice president of Bonnie Brae PTA and cofounder of the Youth Council. Was treasurer of the Woodbury Woods Community Association and Fairfax County Republican Committee and was operations chairman for Braddock District Republican Committee. Past treasurer of Robinson PTSA and member of Steering Committee for Scholarship Fund of Fairfax. Mother of two FCPS graduates. Board service 2000-present.
Senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. President of the class of 2003. Active member of Student Government Association cabinet, Model United Nations Club, and French Honor Society. Runner for cross country and track teams. Senior editor of Fragments literary magazine and intern writer for the Connection newspapers. Grade point average over 4.0. Serving a second term as Student Representative.
Anyone feeling moved to contact your school board representative, here's the information needed.
Fairfax County Public Schools
Try asking these questions over the internet, then meeting up at Burger King to discuss it further, and see what happens.
-PJ
Correction: They pretend to be surprised when people get upset.
This man is paying for the survey with the $400,000 he got from Iraq to make a movie:
Why is the option always to "opt-out"? Why can't it be "opt-in"? Ask for volunteers to participate in the study and choose from a cross-section of these.
They are attempting to solicit the "geek factor" - what's the matter, your mommy doesn't want you to answer the questions? - using peer pressure to ensure participation by those unwilling.
A member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is trying to gather majority support to either remove questions about sexual activity from a larger survey on teen behavior to be distributed to high schoolers, or to eliminate the entire questionnaire.
The survey was administered to 10th- and 12th-graders in the county's public high schools last year, but at that time it didn't contain questions directly related to sexual activity.
Most of the survey deals with "youth risk" behaviors such as alcohol abuse, depression and thoughts of suicide.
This year, however, nine questions specifically related to student sexual activity were inserted into the survey, creating a firestorm of debate not just among parents and students but on CNN's "Talkback Live" program and WTOP's "Ask the Executive," with Board of Supervisors Chairman Katherine K. Hanley appearing on the local show.
The new survey is to be administered to students this April.
The controversial questions ask students whether they have had sexual intercourse, when they last had it, with how many people have they had it, whether they used contraception and whether they have engaged in oral sex.
Supervisor Stuart Mendelsohn, Dranesville Republican, said he would propose "anything from deleting those questions to rearranging the wording to stopping the funding altogether for the survey."
Mr. Mendelsohn — who would need a simple majority of six on the 10-member Board of Supervisors to approve a motion — said he is trying to gather support from fellow supervisors.
"There's some that are interested," he said. "It depends on the wording of the motion. I'm going to see what I can do over the next few days by talking to my colleagues."
The School Board approved the survey with the nine sex-related questions and the Board of Supervisors is paying the $60,000 cost of administering it, Mrs. Hanley said.
Students taking the survey fill it out anonymously, according to Mrs. Hanley, and they may opt out if they want. Parents will be notified of the survey, but they will not be given the actual questions. They may sign a form to exclude their children from the survey.
Questions on the survey were submitted by the Youth Survey Work Group appointed by the Board of Supervisors and the School Board. The group comprised school and county staff, as well as parents of high school students and other local people, a government spokesman said. Mary Shaughnessy, director of Student Services, led the work group.
Mr. Mendelsohn said his main objection was that teens who do not engage in sexual activity would have to repeatedly deny any sexual activity.
"I think there should be one question that if you answer no, you skip the rest," he said. "Young people should not have to say nine or 10 times that they didn't do something."
Public officials including Mrs. Hanley have said the survey is needed to determine which "youth risk" behaviors are most prevalent, including sexual activity.
The county's Department of Health and the school system will use the statistics to shape their intervention and education programs, as they did with last year's survey — which did not contain questions on sexual activity — administered to 11,332 students in grades 8, 10 and 12.
The plan this April is to administer the entire survey, with the sex-related questions, to grades 10 and 12. Grades 6 and 8 would receive the survey minus the sex-related questions.
Kathy Stohr, parent of an 11th-grader at Westfield High School, said she plans to telephone other parents to warn them about the survey.
"I think it's intrusive and it gives kids the wrong idea," Mrs. Stohr said. "It makes it seem like this sexual activity is normal and commonplace."
Lynn Terhar, director of the Fairfax County District of the state PTA, said the PTA had not yet collected enough public opinion on the issue to take an official position. She said, however, that she had sent unofficial e-mail messages to supervisors "urging them to leave the survey intact with the sexual activity questions in it."
"We know high school kids are sexually active," Mrs. Terhar said. "Anybody who doesn't think so is on another planet."
The answers to the survey questions are the kind of data "we need to know about so we know where to put our resources," she said.
Critics question whether high-schoolers would take such questions seriously and provide accurate data, but students who are aware of the issue have said that should not be a concern.
"By the time a student reaches the 10th grade, he or she has the ability to think with a critical mind," said Matt Wansley, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High and the student representative to the School Board.
"The family has primary responsibility to educate their children about moral behavior, but the schools have to approach it from a health standpoint," Matt said.
"I'm more than happy to take it," he said of the survey.