Pointers at Glance
- To identify potential violations of sex discrimination laws in school sports teams, the federal Education Department has published guides for students, parents, athletic directors, and coaches.
- The guides provide information on how to report suspected violations to school athletic directors or Title IX officers or directly to the Office for Civil Rights, which investigates Title IX complaints across the country.
- The timing of the release, which was last week, coincides with the upcoming NCAA college basketball tournament scheduled to begin next month.
The Education Department has released guides to help people identify potential violations of sex discrimination laws in school sports teams.
Despite Title IX provisions to ensure equity in sports, the department is concerned about the ongoing discrepancies in how different genders are treated in K-12 and college athletic programs.
The analysis found that some schools are circumventing Title IX laws, such as by counting male practice partners, double and triple counting athletes, and padding rowing rosters. Title IX was established over 50 years ago to close the gender gap in college athletics and has dramatically increased athletic opportunities for girls and women.
However, girls and women still face barriers such as unequal funding, resources, and coaching, as well as worse facilities, sex-based harassment, and fewer scholarship opportunities. In addition, the guides do not address transgender or nonbinary students.
What Resource Sheet Says?
The resource sheet released by the Education Department details the obligations of federally funded schools under Title IX to provide equal opportunities in their athletics programs based on sex. It covers aspects such as the benefits, opportunities, and treatment provided to both boys’ and girls’ teams and how schools can cater to students’ athletic interests and abilities.
The resource also provides guidance on reporting concerns about opportunities and whom to report them to, enabling readers to evaluate if their school’s athletic program is consistent with Title IX’s provisions for equal opportunity.
