The National Women’s Law Center recently filed a complaint against 12 school districts nationwide, alleging that the districts were in violation of Title IX, failing to provide equal athletic opportunities to its female students in relation to the opportunities provided to its male students. The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization filed the federal complaint after comparing participation percentage gaps between girls and boys using historical statistical data at each school.
The complaint comes as part of the NWLC’s “Rally for Girls’ Sports: She’ll Win More than a Game” campaign. The campaign’s goal is to “address the discrimination in athletics that girls still face in high schools nationwide.”
The complaints are based on Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments, which states, “No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid.”
A violation of Title IX may be found by comparing proportionality between male and female enrollment and participation at a school, the existence of and failure to remedy a history of discrimination at an institution against a particular gender, or an institution’s failure to demonstrate that the interests and abilities of the members of that sex have been fully and effectively accommodated by existing programs.
Among the beleaguered districts were Chicago Public Schools, Wake County schools in North Carolina, and Irvine Unified School District in California. The other nine districts include Clark County, Nev.; Columbus, Ohio; Deer Valley, Ariz.; Henry County, Ga.; Houston; New York City; Oldham County, Ky.; Sioux Falls, S.D. and Worcester, Mass.
The NWLC compared the best data it could obtain for each district, and found that a percentage gap at each school existed, and was increasing. The organization compared the number of girls enrolled versus the number of girls who actually participated in sports at each school in calculating the gap. Chicago’s percentage gap was high, at 33 percent. Wake County’s average percentage gap in 2006 was 11.8 percent and growing. Irvine’s percentage gap, studying data from 2004 to 2006, was more than 10 percent. New York City’s was considerably lower, at 7.9 percent.
Chicago Public Schools, as perhaps the most egregious offender, merits a closer look. As alleged in the complaint, data provided by Chicago Public Schools and the U.S. Department of Education indicated that between 2004 and 2006, the percentage gap rose from 7.9 percent in 2004 to a whopping 33 percent in 2006, with some schools’ percentage as high as 40.8 percent. This equates to a total of 7, 294 girls who could have participated in high school sports in the district if given the opportunity.
In its complaint, the NWLC states, “By not providing equal opportunities for its female high school students, Chicago Public Schools is depriving many girls of the significant benefits associated with playing sports. Sports participation has dramatic positive effects on young women’s health, academic success, employment prospects, and self-esteem.”
What is most troubling about the filings is that some of the schools in other districts that have been targeted seem to be bewildered by the accusations. Irvine’s Carrie Parham, assistant superintendent and former three-sport athlete at Irvine High School, told the Los Angeles Times, “We pride ourselves in terms of offering multiple opportunities. I know I always felt like I had the chance to do everything sports-wise I wanted. Kids at our schools are very involved in many things. I just don’t see any basis for this complaint.”
Bobby Guthrie, the athletic director at Wake County, was also surprised by the filings. He told the News Observer that no one from the NWLC had contacted him previously regarding the alleged inequity. “We have an exceptional record in girls [sic] athletics,” Guthrie told the paper, referring to the 24 N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A state championships won by Wake schools’ girls’ teams in the last five years. “As a system we have done everything we can to provide equal opportunities for girls. I think we are doing that,” he continued. “I have not heard any complaints that we are not providing the proper opportunities for our girls. There haven’t been any requests to add more girls [sic] sports.”
The number of teams at Wake County schools seems to be equal between the sexes. One of the district’s high schools offers 12 sports, plus cheerleading, for girls, while it offers only ten for boys. The rest of the district’s schools offer the same number of teams for each sex. As reported by the News Observer, Wake’s percentage of female athletes is higher than the national average. According to the National Federation of State High School Association, 58 percent of the nation’s high school athletes are male (4.45 million of 7.62 million). The NCHSAA male participants make up 53 percent of its athletes.
Since the filing is so recent, its effects are yet to be seen.
