Our Work

Legislative Action

SB209 and HB209: Support Equitable Athletic Opportunity in Pennsylvania High Schools

Take Action: The PA Senate passed SB 209 by a vote of 47-0 on March 14, 2012. The bill has now moved to the Pennsylvania House for consideration. Please call your Representative in the Pennsylvania House and ask for their support of SB 209.

Background: Title IX is the landmark federal legislation enacted in 1972 that requires all schools receiving federal funding to provide equitable athletic opportunities and treatment to female students. While Title IX has led to increases in athletic opportunities for girls, many schools continue to shortchange their female students in both sports opportunities and sports facilities, equipment and other aspects of the sports program.

What the legislation does: SB209, also know as the Disclosure of Interscholastic Athletics Opportunities requires Pennsylvania secondary schools to publicly disclose information about student athletic participation by gender, race, and ethnicity, and information about athletic facilities, equipment, coaching, and athletic expenditures by gender.

Since 1994, federal law has required colleges and universities to publicly disclose athletic information by gender. This information has been instrumental in expanding intercollegiate athletic opportunities for women.

By enacting this legislation, Pennsylvania students, parents, coaches, and school administrators will have access to the information and tools needed to give Pennsylvania girls a sporting chance!

Take Action Today:

Contact your Representative in the House and ask them to support SB209. We have provided talking points and additional information to help you advocate for equitable athlethic opportunities for female high school athletes:

Some points to make when speaking with your Representative and Senator:

During the 2000-10 school year, there were 24,266 fewer athletic opportunities for female high school students than for male high school students in Pennsylvania.* As a whole, Pennsylvania girls receive inferior equipment, uniforms, fields, facilities, coaching, publicity, scheduling, and transportation compared to male athletes.
Parents and students have a right to know whether their high school is treating female athletes fairly.
Other states - Kentucky, Georgia, and New Mexico - have passed similar legislation. Pennsylvania needs to be a leader when it comes to equity for girls' sports.
Schools already have this information and it would not be burdensome for them to disclose it on a publicly available website once per year.
Without this law, Pennsylvania girls will continue to be cheated and will lose out on the many benefits of participating in sports: leadership skills, a shot at a college sports scholarship, teamwork and fun, along with better grades, a better chance of graduating, and lower rates of depression, drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, and obesity--benefits that last a lifetime.

*2009-2010 High School Athletics Participation Survey, National Federation of State High School Associations.

Recent News on SB 209:

Athletics equity bill reaches state House (Erie Times News on GoErie.com)

Also see WLP's work on Gender Equity in Athletcs.