tarawestover,education,secretarial,secretaries of education article title The United States Education Department will offer administrative support to educators who use sex education to help students reach their potential, a department spokesperson told TechCrunch.
The move follows reports from other news outlets, including ABC News, that some educators in the US have found it useful to use sexual-education curricula to address issues of gender equality and harassment in schools.
The department did not specify what the support will entail, nor whether the effort will include staff education.
The program, called the Department of Sex Education, will begin with two-week courses on the topic of sex education.
Staffed by experts in sex education, the courses include instruction on topics like sex, relationships, health, sexuality, and self-identity.
A third component will include research and mentoring opportunities for teachers.
The Department of Education also announced a new partnership with the National Center for Sex Education to expand and expand the program to more schools and districts.
The partnership, which is expected to begin in 2020, will expand and improve the sex education content offered at schools and schools.
“As the number of schools offering sex education grows, we believe that our education professionals need to be prepared for a range of issues including the role of sex and sexuality in our culture,” said the department spokesperson.
The initiative comes at a time when educators and activists are raising alarm about the growing number of sexual-abuse claims in schools, as well as a lack of transparency about sexual-misconduct investigations.
In response, the Trump administration has moved to bolster the nation’s school safety culture by rolling back protections for sexual assault victims.
On Tuesday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced new protections for victims of sexual assault and harassment, including a “zero tolerance” policy against harassment and a new law that gives parents the ability to sue school districts for failing to protect students from sexual abuse.