Fran Faircloth, Fellow

Yesterday I got to see how local government can provide tools to help fight for a level playing field in athletics. Together with the Sankofa Project, the Center was proud to be recognized for their work on a bill introduced by D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie with unanimous Council support.

The proposed legislation would require D.C. public schools to disclose certain key athletics equity data by gender on an annual basis, such as

• enrollment and sports participation numbers by gender and race;
• coach-to-athlete ratios;
• compensation, qualifications and duties of coaches;
• funding sources and spending;
• scheduling and post-season play;
• training and academic support; and
• quality of facilities and equipment.

Under the bill, all of this information would be required to be publicly available on the city’s website.