Letter to the Editor as Printed in the Washington Times on 8/18/08 LETTER TO EDITOR: D.C. on the wrong track

The Tuesday Aug. 12 Commentary column "AIDS amnesia in America" by Susan Blumenthal and Melissa Shive highlights important statistics about the AIDS epidemic in the District as well as the need for more prevention education. Yet, although they offer no prevention plan, it is clear where they are coming from: Abstinence programs are "ineffective"; prevention programs must be "evidence based," which is code language for "Programs that directive promote abstinence need not apply."

The District is a prime example of what has gone very wrong when it comes to preventing HIV/AIDS in the United States.

Programs that encourage and support youths in their decision to abstain from sex (22 percent more high school youth in the city are abstaining from sex than 14 years ago) have been evicted from D.C. public schools by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Programs that promote two-parent families and sexual abstinence are seen as a threat by those who promote the normalization of same-sex relationships. I was told by Richard Nyankori and Chad Ferguson in Miss Rhee's office that my opposition to now approved health standards that specify teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation beginning in sixth grade meant that our program would not be welcome in D.C. Public Schools. This was after ULTRA Teen Choice was told in November to cease operations in D.C. Public Schools.

In 2007, D.C. Council members David A. Catania and Mary M. Cheh promoted a bill that mandates that all 11-year-old girls attending D.C. public schools receive a three-shot vaccine regimine for human papilloma virus unless their parents opt out. Yet Mr. Catania had no interest in meeting youth from the ULTRA Teen Choice program who wanted to talk about sexual abstinence.

The Board of Education recently proposed draconian new Home School Regulations that would have given D.C. officials the right to enter the homes of parents who where home-schooling and observe the instruction of their children. If "the OSSE determines... that a student is not receiving regular instruction that meets the standards of this chapter and as established by the OSSE," then the parent could be required to send their child to public school. It is entirely plausible that if they were deemed not to be following the D.C. standards (such as not teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation) their children would have to be sent back to public schools. Fortunately, these provisions were removed after the almost unanimous opposition of scores of home-schooling parents who attended a hearing in March. We must ask why these regulations were proposed in the first place. Could it have something to do with the fact that those who home-school often have strong moral and religious convictions and would be more likely to oppose the normalization of same-sex relationships?

I was asked by Mr. Nyankori what our organizations´ policy is on gay rights, implying that if you are not emphatically pro-gay, you are not welcome in D.C. public schools.

No effective HIV/AIDS prevention strategy can be devised as long as D.C. politicians and school officials continue to push pro-gay policies instead of policies that look at what is best for all D.C. children and families.

RICHARD URBAN

Urban Life Training & Reality Assessment (ULTRA)

Teen Choice

Washington

Read Letter to Editor at Washington Times.com

Mayor Fenty Plays Hardball With Youth Programs

ULTRA Teen Choice has received a letter from both Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Mayor Fenty confirming that we have been banned from DC Public Schools, where we had been providing services to the DC Public Schools for some 10 years at little or no cost to the school system.  On July 28th, Mayor Fenty played hardball with another youth program, the Washington East of the River Academy, founded by Council member Marion Barry.

The question arises if the Mayor is serving the best interests of the citizens and youth of Washington, DC, or if there are other agendas that the Mayor is promoting.  ULTRA Teen Choice, which had previously operated with the approval of DC Public School officials was deemed to not comply with Chancellor Rhee’s’ agenda of promoting “diversity”.  Rhee administration officials Richard Nyankori and Chad Ferguson told me that since I opposed the standards that introduced discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation beginning in 6th grade, that our program would not be approved.  They said that if I continued to circulate a petition promoting the teaching of sexual abstinence and not talking about gender identity and sexual orientation issues starting in middle school, that I could go ahead, but there would be the consequence of being blocked form working in DC public schools. 

Michelle Rhee confirmed that policy in letters that she sent to me.  After seemingly relenting to allow the program to continue, Rhee then said that the rules had not been followed, although the rules were changed after our meeting with Richard Nyankori, and the letter that Ms. Rhee sent incorrectly stated the facts of the case.  (see ultrateen choice.org for the letter and our response).

With the Washington East of the River Academy, after Councilmember Barry held a press conference complaining about thousand of summer youth employees not getting paid correctly, then the Mayor moved to shut down the program on Thursday, July 24th.  Students were sent a letter to come to the DC Armory on Friday, July 25th.  When that did not produce the desired results of having most of the youth sign up for other sites, then the Mayor’s office moved to evict the program from PR Harris School in Southeast.  The director was threatened with arrest if she did not vacate.

The actions of the Mayor are clearly vindictive.  If there are issues with any site, then you would discus those issues and see if they can be worked out.  ULTRA Teen Choice requested a meeting with the mayor, and we never got any meting with him or even any staff person.  The actions at Washington East of the River Academy indicate a similar mode of operation; if you don’t follow my agenda, you are out. 

The mayor’s policy seems to be:  carry out the agenda first, and make up reasons later.  The mayor’s process for choosing the school chancellor certainly was not open and transparent.  The proposal to eliminate review of the school budget is another example of lack of accountability and transparency.  In the case of ULTRA Teen Choice, we were informed by the Chancellor’s office that there is a moratorium on outside health providers, yet that is not true.  In the case of East of the River Academy, when youth did not sign up at Friday’s meeting at the Armory, the mayor moved to shut down the site, even though the site itself is not funded by the Department of Employment Services.  The mayor’s policy seems to be:  ‘If one tactic of obstruction does not work, let’s come up with another one.’

We need to wake up to the fact that we have a Mayor that is willing to put special interests and agendas ahead of the welfare of the youth and adults of Washington, DC

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

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

Save Abstinence & Values Education in DC (SAVE DC) Coalition

1/17/08

View Press Release

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.

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