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Equitable Athletic Opportunity in Pennsylvania High Schools
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: The proposed legislation (SB890 and HB2061) 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!
What you can do:
There are two bills, one in each house: SB890 in the Pennsylvania Senate and HB2061 in the Pennsylvania House.
- PA Senate Action: After the Senate Education Committee voted in favor of SB890, it was sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration. Please contact members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and ask them to pass SB890. You can also contact your own Pennsylvania Senator and ask for his/her support when SB890 comes to the floor for a vote.
- PA House Action: HB2061 is currently before the House Rules Committee for consideration. Please contact your member in the PA House of Representatives and ask them to help level the playing field for female athletes in Pennsylvania high-schools and vote for HB2061.
Talking points and more 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 2007-08 school year, there were nearly 20,000 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.
Also see WLP's work on Gender Equity in Athletcs |
