The Guide to a Politically Correct Holiday Classroom Party

The topic of sex education always sparks intense debate, and now the conversation may become even more heated. As more public schools from New York to Milwaukee contemplate providing free condoms on campus, students are caught in the crossfire of the debate.

Milwaukee Public Schools may soon join the small ranks of public school districts nationwide to provide high school students with access to free condoms. The school district's health officials cite concerns about the spread of sexually transmitted diseases as evidence of the need for a plan to make condoms accessible to students who need them. The proposed plan would allow a student to receive two condoms after a consultation with the school nurse, who would also provide the student with literature pertaining to the risks of sexual activity.

While it is not yet clear if the Milwaukee school board will approve the plan, the proposal has resurfaced a national debate over whether condoms have a place in public high schools.

The Advocates for Condom Distribution

Those who support making condoms available as part of a public high school's sex education program make several arguments:

* Condoms Needed to Prevent Spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections
In 2008, the Center for Disease Control released a study showing that one in four teenage girls in America has at least one sexually transmitted infection, and that nearly half of African-American teenage girls had at least one sexually transmitted infection. Advocates for condom distribution in public schools point these studies as

One of the fastest-growing trends in the educational landscape of 21st-century America is single-sex education. Fueled by research studying the different learning styles between the two genders, more public schools are contemplating single-sex student populations. As the public grows more concerned about achievement gaps between girls and boys, parents are increasingly seeing single-sex public schools as an attractive alternative to conventional coeducational environments.

The Growing Support for Single-Sex Education

Fueled by a bevy of research, proponents of single-sex education tout several benefits that are not associated with coeducational campuses.

A Way to Address Gender Gaps
In the 1990s, the American Association of University Women issued a report called "Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America," which raised public awareness about how girls' self-esteem and proclivity for mathematical and scientific pursuits plummet as they progress through the public school system.

In the 2000s, the public's focus began to shift towards how our public school system shortchanges boys, as boys increasingly lagged behind girls in rates of high school graduation and college matriculation. While boys still tend to outscore girls in math and science achievement tests, girls tend to outpace boys in reading and writing tests.

Many advocates for single-sex schooling believe that gender-segregated classrooms can help to undo these seemingly entrenched gender disparities. Tom Carroll, chairman and founder of the Brighter Choice Charter School for Boys and the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls in Albany, says that his schools' recently released test scores showed that his students performed better on

Songs such as “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” have long been considered staples of the annual holiday concerts performed by school bands, orchestras, and choirs. However, friends and family of students in New Jersey’s South Orange Maplewood School District no longer hear these songs at their annual holiday concerts. Across the nation, school districts are changing their policies, banning music with religious themes at school-sponsored events.

One parent in the South Orange Maplewood district has been engaged in a legal battle with the district since 2004 aimed at restoring Christmas carols to holiday concerts, but he has been unsuccessful thus far. Michael Stratechuck, the parent in question, filed his initial lawsuit against the school district in December 2004. In his initial complaint, Stratechuk argued that that district's policy banning music with religious themes (including instrumental versions of religious songs) from being played at the school's December concerts was a violation of the First Amendment's protection of freedom of worship.

Stratechuk appealed the district's court's ruling in favor of the school district, and the United States Appeals Court for the Third Circuit reheard the case in September 2009. Unfortunately for Stratechuk and his supporters, the appeals court recently issued a decision opinion affirming the lower court's ruling and declaring that the school district's policy does not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

The Case in Favor of the Christmas Carols
Government Must Not be Hostile Towards Religion

The New York Times reported that

Teaching salaries may no longer depend simply upon tenure or the type of degree an educator holds. Instead, their compensation as teachers may be based upon how well their students perform on tests!

In 2012 former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg recently declared that student test scores would be a deciding factor in determining which teachers should be awarded tenure and which should not. Considering that tenure influences a teacher’s pay, this declaration inherently ties together test scores and compensation. Bloomberg also made a speech in Washington, alongside the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in which he called upon the NY state legislature to require all school districts in the state of New York to use "data-driven systems" to evaluate teacher and principal performance.

Although such proposals for performance-based pay for teachers have historically been fiercely opposed by teachers' unions, they are gaining ground in a number of states and seem to be part of a general larger trend towards increased school accountability.

This video from PolicyEd discusses the issue of performance-based teacher pay.

Supporters: Performance-Based Pay Will Benefit Students

The ranks of performance-based pay advocates have been growing in recent years. As the New York Times reports, Mr. Duncan said during Bloomberg's recent Washington press conference that "Everyone agrees the current system is broken." Those who support basing teacher evaluations on student test scores tend to say that performance-based