Ohio gets a failing mark on sex education policy from national group

Ohio received an “F” for its sex education policy, according to a new report from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. 

This is the second year in a row Ohio has earned an “F” on the report card from SIECUS, a national organization that advocates for comprehensive, medically accurate, and inclusive sex education. 

“It’s deeply concerning that such an important part of our responsibility to prepare students for life is being so poorly managed,” said Abortion Forward Executive Director Kellie Copeland. 

“The goal should be to help students be prepared to make decisions about their bodies and their lives, and that’s just not what the Ohio curriculum does at all.”

The grades were determined using two categories — Sex Ed Requirement and Sex Ed Content Requirement. Ohio earned a “D” on the sex ed requirement and an “F” on the sex ed content requirement. 

Nine other states also received an “F” on SIECUS’s report card: Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. 

“What young people are allowed to learn about their bodies is increasingly being determined by politics—not by what they need to be healthy and safe,” Callie Simon, SIECUS Executive Director, said in a statement. 

“This goes beyond the classroom because what young people are allowed to learn today will shape their health, safety, and wellbeing for years to come.”

California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington each received an “A” on the SIECUS report card. 

A 2021 report from the Journal of Adolescent Health reviewed three decades of research and determined there is strong support for comprehensive sex education.  

“When you have a curriculum that is scientifically accurate, and teaches young people about the emotional, the physical, the social aspects of sexuality in an age-appropriate way, they understand their bodies better. They develop healthy relationships,” Copeland said. 

Ohio’s curriculum stresses abstinence as a general policy and requires some instruction about sexually transmitted infections, according to the Ohio Revised Code. 

Schools are required to “emphasize adoption as an option to unintended pregnancies” and “teach the potential physical, psychological, emotional, and social side effects” of sex outside of marriage, according to Ohio’s law. 

Ohio lawmakers decide curriculum requirements, so the State Board of Education can not require health education standards. Because Ohio lacks comprehensive sex education, it’s ultimately up to each school district on how they decide to teach it. 

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce is required to conduct an annual audit to ensure school districts are in compliance with the state’s law. 

Every school district completed the 2024-25 audit and all but two school districts were found to be overall compliant. 

Jefferson Township Local School District (Montgomery County) and Ridgewood Local School District (Coshocton County) were non-compliant. 

Both districts were also non-compliant during the 2024-23 audit as well. 

“Many family structures exist today, and all can provide children with a loving and supportive environment,” Ridgewood explained in ODEW’s audit. 

“We have school staff and students who come from single-parent households, same-sex couples, and traditional married-couple families alike. This highlights the importance of recognizing and respecting all family types. Furthermore, sex education should never be used to shame students for their family background.”

Jefferson Township’s district explained there was an “unexpected resignation of our Jr./Sr. High School principal on Feb. 21” who was making arrangements for the sexually transmitted infection education. 

“Our interim building principal was unable to restart/reconnect for the training,” Jefferson Township said in ODEW’s audit. 

“We also lost our Phys. Ed. teacher this year. We have hired a new staff member certified in Health and Phys. Ed. She will be responsible for scheduling the sexually transmitted infection education during the 2025-2026 school year.” 

The Ohio Center for Sex Education is the education arm of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio that teaches comprehensive sex education in schools and community organizations using the Get Real comprehensive sex education curriculum for middle and high schools. 

“That curricula focuses a lot on social and emotional learning, so we’re excited that not only do we get to talk about the stereotypical STIs, birth control, pregnancy prevention, but we also talk to folks about how to be members of their community and have proper communication skills and healthy relationships and just think about consent as a whole and and gender as a way that’s affirming,” said Jes Fuller, director of the Ohio Center for Sex Education.

Comprehensive sexual education is developmentally appropriate, she said.

“We want to give information to young people before it becomes incredibly useful because they can have that information for the future,” Fuller said.

Ohio has a higher teen birth rate than the national average. 

The national birth rate for females 15-19 years old was 12.6 per 1,000 females and Ohio’s teen birth rate was 14.0 per 1,000 females in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ohio lawmakers passed a bill over the summer that will soon require schools to teach students to graduate high school, get a job, and get married — in that order — before having a baby. This is known as the success sequence and the law takes effect Oct. 6.

Ohio House Bill 485, also known as the “Enact Baby Olivia Act” would require schools to show either the ‘Baby Olivia’ video or a similar video to students every year starting in fifth grade all the way up through twelfth grade beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

Ohio state Rep. Melanie Miller, R–Ashland, introduced the bill, which the Ohio House passed last year and has had two hearings in the Ohio Senate Education Committee. 

The Ohio lawmakers are currently on break and will come back after the November election. Any bill that does not pass before the two-year General Assembly ends in December would have to be reintroduced. 

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.