The New York City Department of Education on Thursday announced it would recommend a "research-based" sex education curriculum called Reducing the Risk at all high schools in the city, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

The program encourages students to delay sexual activity but provides information about contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted infections. The curriculum is being used at several school districts nationwide, including Chicago Public Schools. New York City high schools previously used a variety of sex education curricula, Lori Rose Benson, director of fitness and health education for the city's public schools, said (AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/18).

New York state last month rejected about $3.5 million in funding from the federal Title V abstinence education program. According to state health commissioner Richard Daines, $2.6 million that the state provided for the same abstinence program will be spent on other sex education programs.

Title V distributes money based on a formula favoring states with more low-income children. To receive Title V funds, states must adhere to certain requirements, including barring teachers from discussing contraception and requiring them to say that sex within marriage is "the expected standard of sexual activity." Many state governors have said the grants place too many restrictions on the curricula (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/21). Benson said the Reducing the Risk program "talks clearly about abstinence being the No. 1 choice" (AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/18).