State of Illinois HIV, STD, and Pregnancy Prevention Education

Public Act 92-0023 requires that curricula in all elementary and secondary schools include: "human ecology and health, human growth and development, the emotional, psychological, physiological, hygienic and social responsibilities of family life, including sexual abstinence until marriage, prevention and control of disease, including instruction in grades 6 through 12 on the prevention, transmission and spread of AIDS..." The state does not require schools to follow a specific curriculum;, or provide a suggested framework, and the Illinois Learning Standards for Physical Development and Health do not specify these topics. The state does not have limitations on what can or cannot be included in the AIDS prevention instruction, however, instruction must stress abstinence until marriage.

While the state does not require parents to grant permission for participation in AIDS education, Illinois Compiled Statute 105 ILCS 110 (1999) allows parents to request, in writing to the school's principal, that a student be exempt.

Illinois does not provide state funds for school-related HIV, STD, or teen pregnancy prevention activities.