By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

A sex ed administrator with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District says that half of the “Responsible Sexual Behavior” classes for 9th and 10th grade students are taught by Planned Parenthood personnel.

“Planned Parenthood is one of our partners that teaches about 50 percent of our 9th and 10th graders,” Lita-Marie Townsen told CNSNews.com. She made the comment at an event on Capitol Hill last week where sex education activists pushed for federal funding of programs that do not focus solely on marriage and heterosexual couples.

The event, sponsored by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), the National Education Association, and Healthy Teen Network, included Townsend as a panelist. Organizer said she could speak about the progress of comprehensive sex education programs in public schools “on the ground.”

Townsend told CNSNews.com that Planned Parenthood is one of 20 agencies named as medical resources in a handout given to students.

Literature distributed at the event about the Cleveland sex education curriculum states that the K-12 Responsible Sexual Behavior Education Initiative was approved by the school board in 2002 as part of a Comprehensive Health Plan.