PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Oregon’s superintendent of public instruction is upset over broadcast ads and statements in the voters’ pamphlet that she says inaccurately link same-sex marriage to public schools’ curriculums.

“They have no business using our public schools as part of this campaign,” Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo said. “Our schools have nothing to do with this measure. They are trying to create some sort of fear in our schools related to sexual orientation.”

The passages that upset Castillo, a Democrat, were submitted by a diverse group of citizens, including Republican Rep. Wayne Scott, the current House Majority Leader, Clark Brody, a former deputy superintendent of public instruction, and David Crowe, the founder of a Christian group called Restore America.

All three are in favor of Measure 36, which would amend Oregon’s constitution to state that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Scott’s statement reads in part, “The ACLU will surely force costly litigation on the state and school districts demanding that same-sex marriage become a normal component of school curriculums. Teachers will be forced to teach sex education to middle school children based on the new interpretation of marriage in Oregon.”

Dave Fidanque, the director of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the organization would not be filing any such lawsuit.

“Amendment 36 doesn’t deal with public schools in any way,” he said. “It is really just one more example of some of the overreaching on the part of folks that support this measure.”

But David Crowe, the Restore America founder, said Castillo “hasn’t done her homework.”

“There is plenty of information out there, plenty of evidence to show that even right now, homosexuality is being encouraged in our school systems,” Crowe said.

When asked, Crowe said he could not immediately cite any specific instances in Oregon.

“The point is, this is what will come if Measure 36 does not pass,” he said.

In fact, there are no state statutes that require districts to teach on such topics, said David Conley, an education professor at the University of Oregon.

“There is nothing in state statute that even remotely implies that schools would have to teach a specific curriculum around those issues,” Conley said. “It is entirely a local school district’s choice. It is something you would have to take up with the 198 local school districts.”

Castillo said that Oregon schools tend to focus discussions not on marriage, per se, but on more general family life.

“Perhaps half of our students have single parents, stepparents, foster parents,” she said. “We don’t define families, because that would leave a lot of kids out.”

But Tim Nashif, political director of the Defense of Marriage Coalition, the key sponsors of Measure 36, said if same-sex marriage is legalized in Oregon, his group is convinced that local schools will have no legal choice but to put same-sex marriage on equal footing with opposite-sex marriage, in accordance with potential changes in state standards.

As evidence, he points to a National Public Radio report from Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is currently legal, and which features Boston-area teachers talking about how to answer questions posed by students on same-sex marriage.