Texas Laws/SHAC

     Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills or TEKS is the official K-12 curriculum for the state of Texas and its public schools, mandated by law. It details the curriculum requirements for every course. The Health Education TEKS grades 6-8 can be found in the first attachment. A sex education program could be used to teach many of the state required Health TEKS.

     Prior to 2004, the formation of a School Health Advisory Council or SHAC was mandated for every public school district in Texas. A SHAC is a group of individuals representing segments of the community, appointed by the school district to serve at the district level, to provide advice to the district on coordinated school health programming and its impact on student health and learning. The majority of its members must be parents of students in the district. The uniting of the knowledge and experience of parents, community members and educators seemed the ideal solution to address issues threatening the health of Texas' youth and ensure reflection of local community values. These councils recommend to school boards and administrators what health education policies -- including policies on sex education -- the district should follow.

     Early on, organizations like Texas Freedom Network, started urging its activists and members to become members of SHACs to effect change in sex education in Texas. It gave step-by-step instructions through power point and webinars on how to infiltrate SHAC membership. See http://www.tfn.org/site/PageServer?pagename=involved_activist_tools_SHAC.

     Was your SHAC infiltrated using the method described in the powerpoint linked above? Check out your SHAC minutes linked to your district.