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July 8, 2008
Chancellor Michelle Rhee
825 North Capitol St. NE
9th Floor
Washington, DC 20002
Dear Ms. Rhee,
I am responding to your letter dated June 19. There are several factual errors in the letter, which I will correct here.
First of all, I contacted Ms. Greer after going to Stuart-Hobson for the lunch time meeting on February 27. This was because upon returning to the office I received a call from our faculty advisor, Mr. Leonard Booker saying that Principal Brandon Eatman had called him and said that he had not received word that my background check had cleared. Since, as mentioned below, there was not a clear procedure for “clearing” my background check, and I was told that it normally takes three to four days, I believed that it had cleared. About a week later I received a letter in the mail that it had cleared. The letter was dated the day after I went to Stuart-Hobson. However, who is to say that it had not already cleared, and the letter had not yet been produced? This is especially relevant since Ms. Greer never contacted me to let me know that it had cleared. In fact, on March 28, the day of our meeting, I called Ms. Greer and she till could not say whether or not my background check had cleared, although it had cleared one month earlier.
I would also like to point out for the record that the procedure for getting the background check was unclear. At the fingerprinting office, no one know who should “sign off’ on the form. I was shuttled to several offices before I asked Mr. Nyankori, who then had to have an assistant hand deliver the form to Ms Greer for signing.
It is incorrectly stated in your letter that the additional requirement to get a background check was sent the next day,. I received three meeting follow up emails from Mr. Nyankori before getting the one you mentioned, and none of them referred to the need for a background check. The one that did mention the background check was send after business hours (5:36 pm) two days later (February 20). Therefore, this “requirement” was added on three business days and four emails later.
Finally, I did not alter any school log records in any way, as you incorrectly state in your letter. Since the assistant principal had approved our lunchtime meeting, and it was announced over the PA system in the morning, why would I try to hide my presence in the building, or alter the time? The fact is, the administrators in the building were aware of the meeting and approved of it. That is why we held the meeting. It is not, as you imply, because we were willfully disregarding “rules”.
Sincerely,
Richard Urban
Co-founder & Executive Director
- Details
- Category: Abstinence Discrimination
From: Jeremy Ogusky [mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 7:02 PM
Subject: DC's Abstinence Awareness Week next week
Hello all,
A short email to put on your collective radar DC’s Abstinence Awareness Week next week (3/10 – 3/16) with the stated purpose, “to increase awareness that abstinence from sex outside of marriage is a desirable choice for individuals”. Improbable but true:
Alex, maybe DC Fights Back would want to stage an action at one of their activities?
Chris, maybe SMYAL would want to ask some pertinent questions at the ‘Guard Your Diamond, Guard Your Future’ Celebration on Sunday, March 11, at Christian Love Baptist Church?
If in the future, the school board is lobbied by opponents of the new health ed standards, Ultra Teen Choice will likely be one of them. This is a good opportunity to neutralize them now.
Any ideas?
Jeremy
Jeremy Ogusky
Policy Manager
Metro TeenAIDS
651 Pennsylvania Ave, SE
Washington DC 20003
- Details
- Category: Abstinence Discrimination
Save Abstinence & Values Education in DC (SAVE DC) Coalition
1/17/08
Dear Mayor Fenty,
We the undersigned ask you to immediately launch an independent investigation into why ULTRA Teen Choice, a directive abstinence education program has been expelled from DC Public Schools by Chancellor Michelle Rhee (please see attached Press Release). We also ask you to reinstate the program as soon as possible.
The effort to oust ULTRA Teen Choice from DC Public Schools was initiated last spring by a woman who circulated an email attacking the co-founders’ religious faith. Although ULTRA Teen Choice is a secular program, many who support it are part of communities of faith. These faith communities provide tremendous resources to children and youth in Washington DC. Often faith communities provide these programs at little or no cost to the government. By allowing blatant discrimination against people of faith to go unabated, you are signaling a dangerous precedent for the well being of youth in DC. Dr. Martin Luther King was a man of faith, and that compelled him to act decisively for the civil rights of all citizens.
Similarly, the denial of the right of students to choose the ULTRA Teen Choice program is no less serious an infraction of the rights of youth in DC than civil rights violations. These youth are being intimidated by a DC Public School system that is telling them there is something wrong with their choice to remain sexually abstinent and drug free. This type of oppression of youth and their freedom of choice is called “Abstinence Stigma”. Why is Ms. Rhee refusing to meet with the affected students and their parents if the well being of children is truly her priority? Why won’t she tell parents and students why the program was expelled?
I am deeply disheartened by the Chancellor’s lack of transparency plus her lack of concern for parents and youth who wish to participate in the ULTRA Teen Choice program. Public Schools should provide fair treatment and concern for all students and should not promote a particular agenda. Public schools and public school officials should not advocate for or against homosexual relationships. Yet the Chancellor’s office is clearly discriminating against one type of program, one that encourages abstinence, and saying that ULTRA Teen Choice must make a statement affirmative of homosexual relationships. If the Chancellor’s office wants to promote more choices for youth, why is ULTRA Teen Choice being discriminated against and kicked out?
It is because an agenda that is promoting same sex relationships is being promoted. Other than asking ULTRA Teen Choice to make a statement affirmative of homosexual relationships, Ms. Rhee has not stated any other reason why ULTRA Teen Choice should be excluded from DC Public Schools. It is not about the youth; it is about pushing a discriminatory agenda.
Our city is currently in the midst of an unprecedented crisis of values. Twenty million dollars or more have been stolen from the public coffers. Multiple fatal shootings of youth occurred on January 8, 2008 and one youth died. The rate of decline for teen pregnancies has slowed. Several public officials have resigned or been fired amid accusations of undue pressure as they try to do their jobs with integrity.
Washington DC has the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the nation. The point is not whether or not homosexuality is right or wrong, but about how we can best protect the lives of children in Washington DC, who are contracting sexually transmitted diseases at an alarming rate.
There is a great need for more education that is character and values based. Furthermore, according to Bill Milliken, the founder of Communities in Schools, a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult is a strong protective factor for at-risk youth. That is the kind of support ULTRA teen Choice gives to youth through mentors from local colleges and universities and caring adult staff. The motto of ULTRA Teen Choice is “Character, not Condoms”. It says a lot about our city and its leaders when wholesome program are kicked out based on a discriminatory agenda while at the same time millions are stolen from the public coffer and thousands of DC youth and adults are infected with HIV/AIDS and a host of other sexually transmitted diseases.
We the undersigned ask you to independently investigate why ULTRA Teen Choice was kicked out of DC Public Schools, and to immediately reinstate this valuable program. An appropriate use of funds will be to make ULTRA Teen Choice and similar programs available to all DC youth who desire to participate, not to deny access to and to stigmatize those youth who want to participate in the program.
- Details
- Category: Abstinence Discrimination
Contact: Richard Urban
202-544-5081
SAVE DC Coalition asks Mayor Fenty to launch an independent investigation about the expulsion of ULTRA Teen Choice from DC Public Schools
At a press conference and rally today , the SAVE DC Coalition called for Mayor Fenty to immediately launch an independent investigation into why ULTRA Teen Choice, a directive abstinence education program has been expelled from DC Public Schools. ULTRA Teen Choice, a directive abstinence education program that provides classroom HIV & Teen Pregnancy Prevention education, peer counseling by abstinent youth, and Clubs for youth to support them in staying abstinent has been kicked out of Stuart-Hobson Middle School and School Without Walls High School. Ultra Teen Choice has served several District of Columbia Public Schools for the past five years at no charge to the school system or city government.
Since the ULTRA Teen Choice program has already been reviewed and approved by the District of Columbia Public School HIV/AIDS Administration office, the SAVE DC Coalition asks why it has suddenly been banned by Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
The SAVE DC Coalition says that there are three key aspects leading to this ban. The co-founders of ULTRA Teen Choice, Richard & Stacey Urban are God-centered and have been operating a community ministry. The person who initiated the current attack on ULTRA Teen Choice, Tina May, implied in an email last spring that there is something wrong with a person who has faith in God operating a program that serves youth in public schools. Ms. May circulated this email to Principal Brandon Eatman and others. Discrimination based on one’s religious preference is a clear violation of the DC Human Rights Act.
The second key point is that teaching abstinence from sex before marriage as the expected standard for school age youth, which is the Federal standard accepted by one third of all states for their health education programs as the only type of sex education that should be taught, is being called anti-homosexual by opponents of ULTRA Teen Choice. There is a concerted effort underway to say that all types of sexual relations are on an equal footing. By this logic (or should we say, lack of logic), it is some how offensive to talk about marriage. Yet, homosexual relationships alone can never produce children, clearly showing that all types of sexual relationships are not equal. Furthermore, homosexual sex causes a much higher rate of sexually transmitted disease and other related health risks than heterosexual sex. Yet this information is not included anywhere in the newly drafted health education standards. Teaching youth to abstain from sex before marriage is not only good health policy, but marriage is a necessary institution for the continued existence and well being of society. Students consistently praise the ULTRA Teen Choice program in program evaluations, and no student has ever complained of being offended due to their sexual orientation. Knowledge about abstinence, relationship skills, refusal skills, goal setting and the many other areas covered are beneficial for all students.
The third point is that Ms Rhee’s administration has specifically targeted ULTRA Teen Choice because it does not fit their model for a “gay sensitive” organization. Richard Urban was specifically told in a meeting with Ms. Rhee’s special assistant Richard Nyankori and school official Chad Ferguson that the ULTRA Teen Choice program would not be approved if it opposed the health standards that specify discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation starting in 6th grade. Mr Nyankori asked Mr. Urban to issue a statement that affirms ULTRA Teen Choice’s acceptance of homosexual lifestyles in order to be approved by the Chancellor. It was not sufficient to state that ULTRA Teen Choice does not discriminate against anyone, and welcomes all students. In fact, Mr Nyankori falsely stated in an email to Principal Brandon Eatman that “The chancellor has placed a moratorium on all external providers of health and consumer education. Her goal is to ensure providers programs are consistent with DC standards”. In fact, no such moratorium exists. This false statement was used by Principal Eatman as a reason to stop the ULTRA Teen Choice program, which has operated successfully at Stuart-Hobson for four years. Ms Rhee has not offered any specific plan for reducing the HIV/AIDS infection rate among Washington DC youth. At the same time Ms. Rhee is attempting to shut down an effective program that promotes the only 100 per cent effective method of HIV/AIDS prevention by requiring unspecified criteria be met to be considered “gay sensitive”.
Joseph Laconte, a senior fellow with Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy has called this attack "The New Fundamentalism", and he likens it to "a kind of Star Chamber" where education and media elites "blacklist groups they don't like".
Chancellor Rhee says there are “serious concerns” regarding ULTRA Teen Choice, yet will not say what they are. She repeatedly insists that we pass a “gay sensitive” litmus test to be allowed to continue to work in DC Public Schools, while refusing to put that in writing.
Due to this serious breach of both common sense and of professional ethics, the SAVE DC Coalition asks Mayor Fenty to immediately launch an investigation into why ULTRA Teen Choice has been expelled from DC public schools. This is his obligation to the youth and parents of DC Public School students, who want to participate in the ULTRA Teen Choice program. This is especially crucial since Washington DC has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection of any city in the nation, nine times the national average.
- Details
- Category: Abstinence Discrimination
Contact: Richard Urban
202-544-5081
SAVE DC Coalition asks Mayor Fenty to launch an independent investigation about the expulsion of ULTRA Teen Choice from DC Public Schools
At a press conference and rally today , the SAVE DC Coalition called for Mayor Fenty to immediately launch an independent investigation into why ULTRA Teen Choice, a directive abstinence education program has been expelled from DC Public Schools. ULTRA Teen Choice, a directive abstinence education program that provides classroom HIV & Teen Pregnancy Prevention education, peer counseling by abstinent youth, and Clubs for youth to support them in staying abstinent has been kicked out of Stuart-Hobson Middle School and School Without Walls High School. Ultra Teen Choice has served several District of Columbia Public Schools for the past five years at no charge to the school system or city government.
Since the ULTRA Teen Choice program has already been reviewed and approved by the District of Columbia Public School HIV/AIDS Administration office, the SAVE DC Coalition asks why it has suddenly been banned by Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
The SAVE DC Coalition says that there are three key aspects leading to this ban. The co-founders of ULTRA Teen Choice, Richard & Stacey Urban are God-centered and have been operating a community ministry. The person who initiated the current attack on ULTRA Teen Choice, Tina May, implied in an email last spring that there is something wrong with a person who has faith in God operating a program that serves youth in public schools. Ms. May circulated this email to Principal Brandon Eatman and others. Discrimination based on one’s religious preference is a clear violation of the DC Human Rights Act.
The second key point is that teaching abstinence from sex before marriage as the expected standard for school age youth, which is the Federal standard accepted by one third of all states for their health education programs as the only type of sex education that should be taught, is being called anti-homosexual by opponents of ULTRA Teen Choice. There is a concerted effort underway to say that all types of sexual relations are on an equal footing. By this logic (or should we say, lack of logic), it is some how offensive to talk about marriage. Yet, homosexual relationships alone can never produce children, clearly showing that all types of sexual relationships are not equal. Furthermore, homosexual sex causes a much higher rate of sexually transmitted disease and other related health risks than heterosexual sex. Yet this information is not included anywhere in the newly drafted health education standards. Teaching youth to abstain from sex before marriage is not only good health policy, but marriage is a necessary institution for the continued existence and well being of society. Students consistently praise the ULTRA Teen Choice program in program evaluations, and no student has ever complained of being offended due to their sexual orientation. Knowledge about abstinence, relationship skills, refusal skills, goal setting and the many other areas covered are beneficial for all students.
The third point is that Ms Rhee’s administration has specifically targeted ULTRA Teen Choice because it does not fit their model for a “gay sensitive” organization. Richard Urban was specifically told in a meeting with Ms. Rhee’s special assistant Richard Nyankori and school official Chad Ferguson that the ULTRA Teen Choice program would not be approved if it opposed the health standards that specify discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation starting in 6th grade. Mr Nyankori asked Mr. Urban to issue a statement that affirms ULTRA Teen Choice’s acceptance of homosexual lifestyles in order to be approved by the Chancellor. It was not sufficient to state that ULTRA Teen Choice does not discriminate against anyone, and welcomes all students. In fact, Mr Nyankori falsely stated in an email to Principal Brandon Eatman that “The chancellor has placed a moratorium on all external providers of health and consumer education. Her goal is to ensure providers programs are consistent with DC standards”. In fact, no such moratorium exists. This false statement was used by Principal Eatman as a reason to stop the ULTRA Teen Choice program, which has operated successfully at Stuart-Hobson for four years. Ms Rhee has not offered any specific plan for reducing the HIV/AIDS infection rate among Washington DC youth. At the same time Ms. Rhee is attempting to shut down an effective program that promotes the only 100 per cent effective method of HIV/AIDS prevention by requiring unspecified criteria be met to be considered “gay sensitive”.
Joseph Laconte, a senior fellow with Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy has called this attack "The New Fundamentalism", and he likens it to "a kind of Star Chamber" where education and media elites "blacklist groups they don't like".
Chancellor Rhee says there are “serious concerns” regarding ULTRA Teen Choice, yet will not say what they are. She repeatedly insists that we pass a “gay sensitive” litmus test to be allowed to continue to work in DC Public Schools, while refusing to put that in writing.
Due to this serious breach of both common sense and of professional ethics, the SAVE DC Coalition asks Mayor Fenty to immediately launch an investigation into why ULTRA Teen Choice has been expelled from DC public schools. This is his obligation to the youth and parents of DC Public School students, who want to participate in the ULTRA Teen Choice program. This is especially crucial since Washington DC has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection of any city in the nation, nine times the national average.