ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the neoliberal logic of market competition converges with the politically neoconservative agenda of Christian right organizations by mining the hegemonic notions of personal responsibility in the public school curriculum. It focuses on the implications for public schooling as federally funded abstinence-only sex education gained widespread appeal after it was included as a provision in welfare reform legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Federal government funding for abstinence-only sex education programs has existed now for 25 years. Since federal laws prohibit the federal government from mandating content of local community education programs, conservative Christian right lobbyists developed a strategy where they could influence program content through health policy and funding. In May 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, claiming that the abstinence-only program Silver Ring Thing was "permeated with religion" and used "taxpayer dollars to promote religious content, instruction, and indoctrination".
