Single Sex Education

In this case, a federal court in Louisiana reviewed the legality of a public school’s single-sex education program but failed to apply the well- established constitutional standard for evaluating gender-based classifications.

In 2007, the National Women’s Law Center filed an amicus brief in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1. NWLC wrote in support of the schools’ efforts to achieve diversity in the classroom. NWLC’s brief details the research which has demonstrated that racially integrated learning environments are essential to eliminating both race and gender stereotypes because they expose students to diversity and encourage them to reject gross generalizations and stereotypical thinking. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down efforts by two school districts to maintain racial integration in individual schools.  This decision negatively affects all students, including girls who continue to be subject to both race- and sex-based stereotypes in school and in other academic and social arenas.