Sen. Daughtry introduces bill to invest in Maine’s comprehensive sexual education curriculum
AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, introduced a bill to invest in Maine’s comprehensive sexual education curriculum. LD 254, “An Act to Update the Sex Education and Consent Curriculum,” had a public hearing before the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.
“Having worked as a peer sex educator in high school and college, I have been passionate about this subject for a while,” said Sen. Daughtry. “Throughout my legislative career, I have tried to stay up to date on what our educators need in order to provide comprehensive sex education in our schools. Although it became clear that we do not need to change the curriculum, we do need to provide more resources. That’s why I am not proposing any shifts in current law, I am just proposing giving educators the tools they need to meet it and empowering them to meet our existing learning standards.”
LD 254 would allocate $500,000 to the Department of Education to contract for services that provide comprehensive sex education. These services include: filling the current funding gap; increasing prevention education staff; developing and distributing sexual health curricula; expanding access to professional development opportunities for Maine educators and school staff; and expanding access to sexual health education to engage parents, youth, and under-served populations, including the LGBTQ+ community. These services have been flat-funded for years.
Testifying in favor of the bill, Lynette Johnson from Maine Family Planning said, “Maine law and Maine’s health education standards require medically accurate and age-appropriate comprehensive family life education. Research shows that comprehensive sexual health education works [by] empowering youth to make healthy, informed, and responsible decisions about their bodies and relationships. Comprehensive and inclusive sex ed is critical to improve the lives and well-being of all young people.”
Despite the majority of Maine high school students saying that they have learned about sexually transmitted infections or diseases, Maine youth have very low rates of HIV and STD/STI testing. The CDC recommends that everyone aged 13 to 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of their routine health care. According to the 2023 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey, the rate of HIV testing remains extremely low for all Maine youth, Grades 9 through 12, ranging from 3.7% in Grade 9 to 10.4% in Grade 12.
In addition to Maine Family Planning, the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council, the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Maine Medical Association, Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights, the ACLU of Maine, and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England testified in favor of the bill.
The bill faces further action in committee.
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