Nixon, President Richard M. Nixon, signed the Omnibus Education Bill on June 23 1972. This bill would have a profound impact on the lives and futures of millions of American girls and women. The sweep of the words can seem overwhelming at first.
Title IX was one of many education amendments included in the 1965 Higher Education Act reauthorization. It was buried among anti-busting policies and the outline of federal financial aid funding. This statute, which is only 37 words long, guaranteed equal access for all women to education.
There is no such thing as a United States citizen. Sex discrimination can result in exclusion from or denial of Federal financial assistance for education programs or activities.
Lawmakers used the Civil Rights Act for framing but intentionally downplayed the policy’s significance to assure its passage through Congress. Fifty years later, Title IX continues to reverberate around the country, ushering in a new era of women’s sports and a framework for handling sexual misconduct complaints on campus.
“Part of the beauty of Title IX is its breadth and comprehensiveness. It’s a ban without creating an exhaustive list,”Wendy Mink said that her mother, Rep. Patsy Mink (Democrat from Hawaii) was among the legislators who spearheaded the policy. The official name of Title IX was changed to the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act after Mink’s death in 2002.
“It’s open to interpretation and application,”Wendy Mink stated. “She wanted to make sure each of the interpretations would not only be applied but enforced.”
The most visible changes were seen in gymnasiums, fields and courts across the United States — young women were entitled to the same athletic opportunities as their male counterparts at schools. According to a study by the Women’s Sports Foundation, high school participation rose from 294,015 in the 1971-72 school year to 3.4 million in 2018-19 (participation by boys was 3.67 million in 1971-72 and 4.53 million in 2018-19). N.C.A.A.A. participation was higher at the collegiate level. schools rose from 29,977 athletes in women’s sports in 1971-72 to 215,486 in 2020-21. Men’s sports had 275,769 athletes in 2020-21.
“Even my father couldn’t have predicted the profound impact it has made over the last 50 years,”The former senator Evan Bayh (Democrat of Indiana) said. His father Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana sponsored Title IX for the Senate. “He had hopes; he had aspirations,” Evan Bayh said. “I think he would be very pleased and pleasantly surprised to see the difference it’s made.”
What’s in the law?
Title IX forbids sexual discrimination in education institutions that are eligible to receive federal funds. Although it is a short statute, the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Department of Education expanded its scope to encompass sexual assault on schools campuses and harassment. Title IX is applicable to approximately 17.600 local school districts as well over 5,000 postsecondary educational institutions. It also applies to charter schools, for profit schools, libraries, and museums according to the Education Department. This applies to both employees and students.
Title IX became law in 1972. However, the Office of Civil Rights didn’t adopt an intercollegiate athletics policy until 1979 to ensure compliance.
What is the best way to enforce it?
The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights oversees compliance with Title IX and investigates multiple types of discrimination, including with regards to admissions, athletics, recruitment, discipline, gender harassment, scholarships and sexual harassment and sexual violence.
Title IX regulations stipulate that any educational institution receiving federal funding must name at least one individual to act as the Title IX coordinator. Coordinators are responsible for compliance. They also investigate Title IX complaints. Around 3,600 Investigations are currently being conducted by the Education Department. Of these, approximately 1,300 involve a Title IX concern.
Title IX issues are usually resolved by schools, which is rare as they rarely lose their funding.
Dr. Courtney Flowers, an associate professor of sport management at Texas Southern University and a co-author of the Women’s Sports Foundation report, said that compliance could improve, as could the shortfalls in sports that aren’t addressed by Title IX.
“Across the board, we’ve all won,” Flowers said. “But sometimes, we have to recalibrate and make sure that in the next 50 years we’re not saying the same thing and advocating for the same thing and figure out what does equity look like now?”
What’s missing from Title IX?
While Title IX’s intentions to be broad and encompassing have ensured rights for many women and girls, white women have benefited the most.
Title IX doesn’t directly address race or gender identity. The Women’s Sports Foundation found that Asian, Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and other girls and women of color participate in sport at lower levels than white women do. Similar results were observed for women with disabilities and men who suffered from disabilities.
Athletic leadership is also a weak area for women of color.
Title IX has been reinterpreted and includes transgender students.
Title IX, which falls within the executive branch, is therefore subject to interpretation by every administration. On Thursday, the Biden administration presented new regulations that would expand Title IX protections for transgender students. “sex”To include “stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
Although the new language is subject to commentary, it also reversed a Trump Administration policy which narrowed campus sexual misconduct investigations. Biden maintained that current regulations were valid. “weakened protections for survivors of sexual assault and diminished the promise of an education free from discrimination.”
According to the proposal, this guidance would legally make Title IX’s protection of transgender students an official federal law requirement.
The Education Department stated that its sports guidelines would be developed separately. Miguel A. Cardona was the education secretary and stated Thursday that it had set out rules regarding how schools could determine eligibility for teams. “while upholding Title IX’s nondiscrimination guarantee.”However, he refused to reveal any details as to how the rules would be made.
The proposed changes come amid highly contentious debate throughout the sports world about whether transgender women should be allowed to compete in women’s divisions.
Some major sports federations have heavily restricted transgender women from competing in women’s divisions. FINA, which is the international governing body for swimming has voted to ban transgender females from participating in any competition unless they have received treatment to stop testosterone production during puberty’s early stages or before age 12. This was one of the most stringent rules for transgender athletes participating in international sport.
Nearly 20 States Have passed or adopted statewide laws that restrict or ban transgender participation in sports.
Title IX, for now, is unlikely to be used specifically by lawmakers either to push for more inclusion or exclusion of transgender women in women’s divisions. This law is a fundamental education policy and has broad support from both Republican lawmakers and Democrats.
Check out the complete article here