WI Assembly Education Committee to hold public hearing on contraception madate of 2009

The Assembly Committee on Education has scheduled a public hearing for Assembly Bill (AB) 337, the "Strong Communities…Healthy Kids Act," on Wednesday, November 16, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 417 North (GAR Hall) of the State Capitol building in Madison.

Please consider attending the hearing and registering for or testifying in favor of this critically important legislation.

Assembly Bill 337 is legislation authored by State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) that reverses the contraception education/instruction mandate of 2009, giving public school districts the freedom to adopt abstinence-only human growth and development curricula. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect our children's bodies and preserve their innocence, and local school districts should be given this option. The bill also prohibits school-based volunteer health providers from providing instruction in human growth and development. Sexual development is not properly under the purview of a school health room physician or nurse, especially one from Planned Parenthood. The bill prevents Planned Parenthood nurses and physicians from teaching about abortion and contraception in our public schools. The Senate companion bill to AB 337, Senate Bill 237, passed the Senate on November 2.

Thank you for speaking up for our children!

PLW

Wis Senate Republicans repair woefully inept sex-ed mandate

MADISON (WKOW) -- Sex-education in Wisconsin schools is in for big changes after a bill passed Wednesday night in the State Senate.

Senate Bill 237 repeals parts of the Healthy Youth Act put forth by Governor Jim Doyle last year.

It makes teaching about contraception optional in schools, and requires school districts to teach that abstinence is the only effective way to prevent pregnancy and STD's.

The bill passed on party lines Thursday night after about an hour of testimony, mainly from Democrats.

It now moves on to the Assembly, but Thursday is the last floor session scheduled until January. The Assembly may not even have time to consider the bill this year.

WKOW

Reversal of forced contraception indoctrination proposed

The Senate Committee on Education has scheduled a public hearing for Senate Bill (SB) 237, the “Strong Communities…Healthy Kids Act,” on Wednesday, October 19, at 12:00 p.m. in Room 201 Southeast of the State Capitol building in Madison.

Please consider attending the hearing and registering for or testifying in favor of this critically important legislation.

Senate Bill 237 is legislation authored by State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) that reverses the contraception education/instruction mandate of 2009, giving public school districts the freedom to adopt abstinence-only human growth and development curricula. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect our children’s bodies and preserve their innocence, and local school districts should be given this option. The bill also prohibits school-based volunteer health providers from providing instruction in human growth and development. Sexual development is not properly under the purview of a school health room physician or nurse, especially one from Planned Parenthood. The bill prevents Planned Parenthood nurses and physicians from teaching about abortion and contraception in our public schools.

For those of you who reside in the Beloit area, the Beloit School District has been developing human growth and development curriculum proposals through an ad hoc committee since last December. The district is currently without a sex education program. Listening sessions on curriculum proposals will begin on October 24 and continue into early November.

Thank you for speaking up for our children!

Pro-Life Wisconsin

Great news!

John Paul II Academy, Eau Claire, WI

In September 2011, Eau Claire will be the home of a new school, the John Paul II Academy of Classical Education (JPII). Local middle and high school students interested in attaining a classical style of education currently not offered in this area, will have the opportunity to focus on written and spoken language skills, learn logical tools for organizing facts and develop the ability to express what they learn in well-formed arguments.

“We will focus on teaching children how to learn, with more emphasis on the Great Books and less on technology and sports,” says John Ruplinger, the newly hired Headmaster for JPII Academy. Classical education is not only a method of teaching, but also a curriculum that follows methods of study used by the founders of our country and the great thinkers over time. Ruplinger indicates JPII Academy is planning opportunities for the public to learn more about this style of education in the near future.

The idea for the John Paul II Academy started about five years ago with several home school parents looking for a classical educational opportunity for their growing children. “We wanted an option of a small school environment that combined a classical curriculum with the Catholic faith,” says Board Chairman Kevin DeCook of Chippewa Falls.

After much research into classical educational opportunities, a board of local parents was established in January of 2011, and the John Paul II Academy, a non-profit entity, was officially formed. It will follow the NAPCIS (National Association of Private Catholic Independent Schools) model and is a member school of that organization.

For more information and to follow the progress of the John Paul II Academy of Classical Education, go to www.johnpaul2academy.org.

John Paul II Academy will join three other academies in Wisconsin with a classical style of education; St. Ambrose in Madison(from where Mr. John Ruplinger is coming from), Trinity Academy in Milwaukee, and Providence Academy in La Crosse. JPII offers middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12) only at this time. The website is well done. Plans for the first year are only to have 15-20 students but obviously as time goes on those numbers will grow. I would think this eventually will expand to K-5 as well. I have not yet heard of Bishop Callahan's position on the school, but it is my understanding that then-bishop Listecki had problems with the other independent Catholic school(Providence) in the diocese when they expanded to high school age. If I lived in the area I'd be sending my children there.