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After staying largely quiet since the evolution hearings several years ago, a conservative member of the Kansas State Board of Education made her voice heard this past week on a subject she describes as "dear" to her.
During the board's December meeting in Topeka, Kathy Martin, a Republican from Clay Center, asked her fellow board members to not support the Kansas State Department of Education's monetary contribution to an annual HIV/AIDS conference unless there is a balance of abstinence information provided at the event.
The conference, held each summer in Kansas City and sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health, brings together teachers, school nurses guidance counselors who hear speakers and discuss best practices in the area of HIV/AIDS and human sexuality education.
Under KSDE's agreement with the CDC, the education agency provides $8,000 to help pay for various expenses associated with the conference.
When Martin brought up her concerns about providing the money again this year, board president Janet Waugh, a Democrat from Kansas City, quickly made her feelings known on the subject.
"I believe we're entering an area we shouldn't be entering," she said. "I believe we're entering an area of micromanaging. We'd be opening Pandora's box."
After staying largely quiet since the evolution hearings several years ago, a conservative member of the Kansas State Board of Education made her voice heard this past week on a subject she describes as "dear" to her.
During the board's December meeting in Topeka, Kathy Martin, a Republican from Clay Center, asked her fellow board members to not support the Kansas State Department of Education's monetary contribution to an annual HIV/AIDS conference unless there is a balance of abstinence information provided at the event.
The conference, held each summer in Kansas City and sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health, brings together teachers, school nurses guidance counselors who hear speakers and discuss best practices in the area of HIV/AIDS and human sexuality education.
Under KSDE's agreement with the CDC, the education agency provides $8,000 to help pay for various expenses associated with the conference.
When Martin brought up her concerns about providing the money again this year, board president Janet Waugh, a Democrat from Kansas City, quickly made her feelings known on the subject.
"I believe we're entering an area we shouldn't be entering," she said. "I believe we're entering an area of micromanaging. We'd be opening Pandora's box."
