Fisher: Good title can't hurt

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:48:59 -0400

Rep. Susan Fisher thinks a good title can't hurt.

In 2007, the Asheville Democrat pushed a bill to move North Carolina schools to comprehensive sex education, away from abstinence-only.

It's title: "Modify School Health Education Program."

The bill went down to defeat, but Fisher kept at it. She wrote a new bill that would allow parents to opt out of the classes and gave it a new title: "The Healthy Youth Act."

Though the new title is more vague, Fisher said it's not misleading.

"It wasn't to hide its purpose, it was really to emphasize its purpose," she said.

Over the years, she says she's learned to be skeptical of positive-sounding bill titles. She took issue with this title: "No Bullying Anyone at Public Schools."

"On its face, that sounds very all-inclusive," she said. "But if you read further into the bill, you will find that it skirts an issue or two."

The bill is a Republican alternative to Fisher's "School Violence Protection Act," which calls for students to be protected against bullying or harassing because of real or perceived sexual orientation. The GOP bill makes no mention of sexual orientation.

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Fisher: Good title can't hurt