- Illinois schools are not required to teach sex education. But if they do, it must be comprehensive, age and developmentally appropriate, medically accurate, complete, culturally appropriate, inclusive, trauma informed, and replicate evidence-based or evidence-informed programs.
- All sex ed curricula must include instruction on consent, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
- Parents or guardians may remove their children from sex ed. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy.
- Illinois law provides guidelines for family life education courses.
Bills to Watch
- SB 1428 was introduced in 2023. It would provide local schools with grants to teach “comprehensive personal health and safety education” for kindergarten through fifth grade and “comprehensive sexual health education” in sixth through twelfth grade.
Some Sex Ed Advocates Within the State
For more detailed information on how various districts in the state have been implementing these standards — and for recent legislation — you can read SIECUS’s Illinois profile.