Board of Education OKs effort to steer sex ed funding away from group affiliated with Planned Parent

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.livewellnebraska.com/sex/board-of-education-oks-effort-to-steer-sex-ed-funding/article_ca6fa693-fbd6-5967-85db-cb5893b1ea35.html

Posted: Saturday, October 3, 2015 12:45 am | Updated: 12:57 am, Sat Oct 3, 2015.
By Erin Duffy / World-Herald staff writer

The Nebraska Board of Education gave its approval Friday to a series of budget requests that include paying for a health initiative that focuses on sex education with state funds instead of a private grant.

The 7-1 vote by the board on a slate of budget requests gave Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt authority to ask state lawmakers for about $55,000 in public funding to continue work that was previously funded with a $75,000 grant from the Grove Foundation, which is a major donor to abortion- and contraception-rights groups such as Planned Parenthood and the Guttmacher Institute.

The $55,000 requested would be used to train local school officials on creating and implementing health and sex education programs and would pay half the salary of a health specialist who will work on issues that include HIV/STD prevention, teen pregnancy, substance abuse prevention and anti-bullying efforts. That money is not included in the Department of Education’s current budget.

“The grant’s over and we’re not going to reapply,” Education Board President Rachel Wise said Friday. “We’re moving in our own direction.”

FULL story at link.