|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 16, 2006
Contact: Ranit Schmelzer or Jenice Robinson, 202-588-5180
ADMINISTRATION'S WEAKENING OF TITLE IX POLICY CONTINUES
Dept. of Education's Harmful Athletics "Clarification" Reaches One Year Mark
Washington, DC - One year after quietly making a major change to Title IX policy that threatens to reverse decades of progress women and girls have made in sports, the Department of Education refuses to change course despite a mounting outcry from members of Congress, women's groups, the NCAA and others, the National Women's Law Center said today.
"This is truly March madness," said Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women's Law Center. "Despite overwhelming public support for Title IX and the opportunities it has provided women and girls, the Department continues on a crusade to weaken the law. Enough is enough. The policy should be withdrawn by the Department of Education."
On March 17, 2005, the Department of Education issued an "Additional Clarification" that allows schools to avoid their legal obligation to provide equal opportunities for their male and female students. The guidance authorizes schools to rely on questionable email surveys alone to determine whether to add more sports opportunities for women and girls, placing the burden on them to prove that they are interested and deserve more opportunities. The guidance does not require schools to look at other factors they have had to consider over the years, such as coaches' and administrators' opinions or young women's participation in sports in surrounding high schools or recreational leagues.
In response to this policy change, a bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives led by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), today introduced a resolution calling on the Department to withdraw the clarification. The Resolution follows a NCAA resolution advising members not to use the Clarification.
"It is gratifying to have the support of so many members of Congress who recognize that, unless rescinded, this policy will hurt women and girls for generations to come," Greenberger said.
More than 30 years after Congress passed Title IX, women and girls still do not have equal opportunities to play sports. Despite the fact that females make up half or more of students in high schools and colleges, they still receive only about 43% of the sports participation opportunities, 38% of operating budgets and 32% of recruiting dollars.
The issuance of this policy guidance is the latest move in a years-long attempt to weaken Title IX. The Bush Administration's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics in 2002 made several recommendations that would have weakened Title IX, but the Department of Education initially declined to adopt those recommendations after significant public outcry.
###
