Victory for Title IX Supporters
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 7/17/2003
The Department of Education will not change rules regarding the enforcement of Title IX after a yearlong review of its effectiveness. Title IX is the 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination in education. It is widely known for its effects on varsity sports for women, but also applies to academics.National Women's Law Center Co-President Marcia D. Greenberger hailed the decision as "a huge victory for women and girls everywhere."
The day before the department's decision, the National Women's Law Center and the American Association of University Women gathered with female soccer players and other athletes in a show of support for Title IX. The groups defended the law against critics who claim male sports suffer to meet proportionality tests, which determine Title IX compliance by measuring athletes in proportion to the women and men enrolled at a school.
Secretary of Education Rod Paige released a report firmly dismissing this claim. The report insists "nothing in Title IX requires the cutting or reduction of teams in order to demonstrate compliance with Title IX." In fact, two other prongs exist for fulfilling anti-discrimination requirements, including a school's history of adding teams for women and meeting the athletic interests and abilities of campus women.
The department noted that sex discrimination has not disappeared from education, but great strides have been made toward equal opportunity. Since its inception, Title IX has helped boost female athletic participation in college by 400% and in high school by 800%.
Lisa Maatz, director of public policy for the American Association of University Women, contends Title IX remains "a principle for civil rights, a principle for economic justice."
