Sex ed in the city's schools made headlines last week when Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced it will be a required course for middle and high students. In a letter to principals, Walcott said he believed a policy to teach sex education was long overdue. "We have a responsibility to offer our students access to information that will keep them safe and healthy," he wrote.  Students will learn how to use condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, along with lessons about puberty and human anatomy.

Reactions have been mixed: The Daily News spoke with parents in neighborhoods with high rates of teen pregnancy who welcome the change, while the Archdiocese of New York told the New York Times that it finds the new curriculum "troubling" and has asked that parents not allow their children to participate. (Parents may request that their children opt out of birth control conversations in school.) Peter Meyer wrote for Education Gadfly that sex education is a misplaced resource, teens would be better served by a well-rounded education than instruction on how to use condoms. The Mayor maintained the importance of the new policy on his weekly radio address, saying that sex ed is necessary in schools because it's not happening at home. "The parents aren't doing it. The evidence is there," he said.

The state already requires a semester of health education and five courses on H.I.V./AIDS prevention a year, starting in kindergarten, and condoms have been distributed in schools since the late 80s.

We'd like to know what you -- parents, teachers and students -- think of the new sex ed mandate. Take our poll and let us know.