Title IX, the federal legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, is one of the country's greatest success stories. AAUW was instrumental in the passage of Title IX in 1972, which has since led to a 400 percent increase in the rate of female participation in college sports and a more than 800 percent increase in participation at the high school level. Female athletes are more likely to develop positive school and lifestyle habits. High school girls who participate in sports are less likely to experience an unintended pregnancy or to smoke or use illicit drugs, while they are more likely to have a positive body image than girls who don't play sports.
Despite the significant gains girls and women have made since the enactment of Title IX, a significant drawback to the law's enforcement at the high school level involves the lack of data reporting. While it is estimated that female students receive 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than do male students, the U.S. Department of Education does not require high schools to make athletic opportunity, participation, and funding statistics publicly available, even though they already collect this data. Colleges are required to report this data, it's time our high schools are too.
Take Action!
It's time we know the score of Title IX in America's high schools. To urge your senators to cosponsor the
High School Sports Information Collection Act, just click on the "Take Action" link in the upper right corner or copy and paste the following URL into your Internet browser. Then follow the instructions to compose and send your message.
The grassroots liaisons in AAUW's
Leadership Corps program will be reaching out to AAUW branch leaders to provide mentoring and assistance. Whether you are a member of an AAUW branch (an officer or not) or a member-at-large interested in becoming involved with other AAUW members, please fill out the
online form here to indicate areas of branch programming or administration for which you would like assistance.
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