Summary: Set in 1980, in Central New Jersey, "The Sex Ed Chronicle" recounts a young journalist’s brave efforts to stand up for a teacher’s beliefs in the emotionally charged arenas of sex education and student free press rights in the public schools. In January of 1980, the U.S. economy is in shambles, Ronald Reagan is beginning his quest to become the country’s fortieth president, and New Jersey is about to become the first state to require sex education in all public schools. New Jersey native Greg Mandell, a rookie reporter for the Ocean Republic, accepts an assignment to cover the Parent’s Alliance for Schools and Teachers (PAST) and the state’s public hearings on sex education. Formed to stop sex education, PAST has influenced the election of three hundred like-minded candidates to school boards across the Garden State . While on assignment, Mandell falls for Andi Gilardi, a popular history teacher up for tenure at Mandell’s alma mater, Averdell High School . PAST has accused Gilardi of manipulating her students to fight for sex education through the school newspaper and has labeled her a “morally unacceptable” teacher who must be denied tenure. Mandell’s respect and affection for Gilardi forces him to make a choice between his professional objectivity and his personal integrity.
