A progressive advocacy group behind the sexual education curriculum adopted by the Austin Independent School District (AISD) last year proposed hiring abortion provider Planned Parenthood to lead training workshops with educators for a cost of $1,500 per day.
The proposal came to light during a review of procurement documents obtained by Honest Austin by public information request.
Advocates for Youth, which made the proposal in March last year, was apparently unaware of draft legislation that would make such an arrangement illegal under Texas law. Senate Bill 22, which was then making its way through the Legislature, took effect in September 2019 and prohibits contracts between local governments and abortion providers.
Advocates for Youth describes itself in bid documents as “one of only a few national organizations working at the intersection of youth leadership, civic engagement and adolescent sexual health including HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ youth health and rights.”
The group has worked closely with Planned Parenthood elsewhere, including its AMAZE online video series. Advocates for Youth also is chaired by an ex-Planned Parenthood executive.
An AISD public information specialist told Honest Austin that the school district “does not have a contract document with this organization,” but it shared procurement documents that included hundreds of pages of lesson plans that have shaped lessons approved by the AISD board.
The lessons were scheduled to be used this spring for the first time, before the coronavirus outbreak led to school cancellations.
$1,500 Cost for 3-Hour Workshops
In its proposal, Advocates for Youth offered AISD the use of its lesson plans free of charge, while adding optional training and professional development modules for a price.
The proposal narrative notes that AISD had “expressed interest in providing professional development for non-instructional staff in the 80 elementary and 20 middle schools that will be implementing the curriculum,” including counselors, parent support specialists, and SEL staff.
It adds, “Advocates for Youth can provide a three-hour workshop in the fundamentals of sexual development for staff who will benefit from a basic overview of youth sexual health and how best to support students in making healthy decisions.”
The proposed cost was $1,500 per three-hour workshop, or $4,000 when factoring in the cost of hiring substitute teachers for the participants. $1,000 of that cost would be for the “trainer fee,” $200 would be for participant packets for the training, $250 for coffee, and $50 for shipping materials.
Advocates for Youth pitched this $1,500 price tag as a cost saving, since its own Washington, D.C.-based staff would not have to fly in for the trainings: “These workshops are most effective when delivered in person and Advocates for Youth can partner with local Austin sexuality experts (Cardea Services and Planned Parenthood) to reduce travel costs and/or explore developing an online workshop that staff could take.”
With 50 such workshops proposed districtwide, the cost to AISD would be $200,000.
$2,000 Per Day Consultant from New Jersey
For other aspects of the proposed training program, which included ‘training of master trainers’ workshops, Advocates for Youth planned to fly in its own consultant at a cost of $2,000 per day.
According to a budget document accompanying the proposal, the organization identified Elizabeth Schroeder of Montclair, New Jersey as an expert in human sexuality.
On her website, Schroeder identifies herself as “an award-winning educator, trainer and author in the areas of sexuality education pedagogy, LGBTQ-affirming best practices, and working with adolescent boys.”
Advocates for Youth planned to pay her a $2,000 daily rate for six days, for a total value of $12,000, though it cautioned in a footnote that this figure could change depending on which training model AISD selected.
Procurement Difficulties
AISD’s board in February 2019 adopted curriculum standards drafted by Advocates for Youth and two other non-profits. The standards are called the “National Sexuality Education Standards,” and provide an overarching framework for the district’s approach to sexual education. But the school district ran into difficulty finding a contractor who would write the specific lesson plans to be used under those standards.
Initially, it opted to purchase a curriculum called “Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works,” developed by Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
However, the district was blocked from using this curriculum because the legislature passed SB 22, the law prohibiting any transactions between government entities and abortion providers.
The district then copied lesson plans from a Canadian abortion provider, Alberta Health Services, but was told by the Canadian group that its use of the lessons was unauthorized.
A representative of the group wrote to AISD, “As Alberta Health Services never entered into the copyright permission agreement with AISD, we were surprised to receive a copy of materials that include significant portions of the AHS materials. Given our earlier discussions, it is disappointing to learn that the AISD decided to use the materials without permission.”
That information came to light through a public information request made by Texas Values, a group that opposes AISD’s new curriculum.
Currently, AISD’s lesson plans and materials are drawn from a variety of sources and organizations, including Advocates for Youth.
Want to dig deeper? Below are links to procurement documents submitted to AISD by Advocates for Youth:
