JUNEAU -- The Alaska Senate passed a bill Sunday that would require sex education teachers and curriculums to first gain approval from local school boards, as well as prevent the state Department of Education from requiring statewide standardized tests until at least the spring of 2019.
House Bill 156 also says that if the federal government threatens to withhold funding, the state could resume mandating testing before then.
The vote in the Senate on Sunday was 15-5, with Democratic Sens. Bill Wielechowski, Berta Gardner, Johnny Ellis, Lyman Hoffman and Dennis Egan voting no.
Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, questioned during Sunday's debate whether the bill would allow visiting doctors and health care professionals to rural Alaska villages to teach sex ed courses. Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, who pushed for the sex education portion of the bill, said the legislation doesn't bar groups from teaching sex ed as long as they go through the school board.
The sex ed component, which Dunleavy added earlier this week, added a new layer of contention to the bill, with groups like Planned Parenthood saying it would increase barriers to sex ed in the state. Dunleavy said it fit into the bill's overall mission of increasing local control over education.
Sen. Lesil McGuire said she didn't support the part of the legislation that lifted a requirement that 70 percent of state funding go toward classrooms. She said the state offers waivers to help districts meet that requirement.
The bill now heads back to the House, where it passed 22-17 last week, for a concurrence vote.