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Women's Rights
What's New? - Archive
WomenMatter will continuously post updates on all this and other issues as we monitor the continuing philosophical and practical debates nationwide.
Please check back often for updates. Past updates are available for reference on the Women's Rights Archives page.
Since Women's Rights is in many ways an umbrella issue, WomenMatter will highlight related updates from other Life Issue areas here:
Girls Only: Public Education Shifts to Accommodate Single-Sex Schools
On March 3, 2004, The Bush administration announced that it plans to relax Title IX regulations to permit public single-sex schools and single-sex classes within coed schools.
Just over a year ago, in May 2003, women Senators from both parties requested that the Department of Education create new guidelines to allow single-sex education. The Senators want to funnel more money towards girls’ education since there is evidence that our public school system maintains a gender bias against girls.
The Debate
The proposal challenges the 1972 Education Amendments which prohibits sex discrimination in federally assisted education programs. Title IX of these amendments states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational programs or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
Beyond the constitutional considerations, which will surely be tested in court in the near future, the debate over this issue centers on the question of whether or not single-sex schools help to promote gender equality.
The origin of difference
The topic of single-sex schools ignites debate among women.
Many proponents of all-girls schools suggest that girls and boys naturally learn and develop differently, especially during adolescence, and thus need their own environment. They explain that girls are encouraged by a setting where women are in power and girls are on all of the sports teams and hold all of the leadership positions.
While most feminists agree that positive role-modeling empowers girls, some take issue with the assertion that the sexes are fundamentally and/or naturally different. The assumption of inherent difference has traditionally been the basis of discrimination.
Recent feminist theory suggests that the male/female gender binary is oppressive. Famous theorist Judith Butler suggests that this binary is not intrinsic but constructed and must be constantly maintained and reinforced; single-sex schools may be one such reinforcement. Butler calls gender “performative;" it is not stable, but continuously recreated through behavior and language.
We don’t have true coeducation
Despite disagreement over the causes of gender difference, many women agree that girls are victims of gender bias in coeducational schools.
A widely cited study commissioned by the American Association of University Women declares that gender bias is a major problem at all levels of education. The research suggests that girls are continually victims of sexual harassment and are ignored by sexist teachers. The study also suggests that girls’ self-esteem drops after elementary school, resulting in quieter, less involved young women in middle and high schools.
Critics of the study claim that no equivalent research has been conducted on boys, so there is no proof that only girls experience an after-elementary-school dip in self-esteem and participation. Nevertheless, there is considerable evidence that girls in girls’ schools perform better than their counterparts in coeducational schools.
However, the success of girls’ schools may not be due to their single-sex status. Single-sex schools typically have smaller classroom sizes, better funding and teachers, and more parent support. These factors may be more important in determining students’ success than the single-sex feature.
Advocates maintain that girls-schools are unique for other reasons. They say girls’ schools are particularly sensitive to girls and women’s issues and experiences and thus provide a special support and community.
A part of a larger solution
Advocates explain that single-sex schools are a piece of the overall solution to gender inequality. They do not claim that single-sex schools will erase all forms of gender discrimination or gender violence in society. But girls’ schools do produce educated, responsible, successful young women more often than coeducational schools, so why not? Why not invest in something that works?
Opponents to single-sex schools point out that historically, separate has never meant equal. The Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education supports this view; the Court ruled that segregation necessarily sends a message of inferiority. Separating boys from girls may recreate and reinforce the notion that girls and women are subordinate to boys and men.
Opponents of single-sex education typically endorse gender-equality programs within coeducational schools, such as teacher training and student workshops, also proven effective. Advocates of single-sex education doubt that these programs would be as successful.
Limited funds
When it comes to funding, the debate over single-sex education gets heated. Single-sex programs are not specially funded, but draw money from a relatively small pot of funds that the Bush administration has earmarked for “innovative programs."
Opponents feel that single-sex education robs students in coeducational schools (90% of all students) of programs that may ease gender inequity.
So, what are the new rules?
The Department of Education will allow coed public schools to offer just-girls or just-boys classes if the school administration can rationalize a single-sex class in that subject. Schools will be able to go beyond the single-sex offerings currently allowed (i.e. physical education and sex education) and provide girls-only and boys-only math classes, science classes, etc.
Schools that decide to offer single-sex subjects must offer those subjects to the excluded sex as well, through their own class or a coed class. The school administration is also required to periodically review the single-sex classes to ensure that they are still needed and useful.
Public single-sex schools will not be required to rationalize their existence or review their usefulness. However, school districts that maintain single-sex schools must offer equivalent courses and facilities in their coeducational schools.
Unanswered questions
The question remains, will the segregation of the sexes result in greater equality? And other questions abound: Does gender determine educational success more than other factors, such as socio-economic status? Is there sexism within girls’ and boys’ schools? To what extent do single-sex schools reinforce traditional notions of gender difference? If single-sex schools are so successful, why doesn’t the government provide sufficient funds for them?
Discuss these issues with other WomenMatter readers in one of our online forums. Continue to read about Women’s Rights and other Life Issues, especially Education. When you find an issue that you’re passionate about, contact your representatives and let them know what you think.
Where WomenMatter stands and why
WomenMatter believes that girls’ voices deserve to be heard. That is why we’ve established GirlsMatter, an initiative aimed at engaging girls and women in the political process from an early age. GirlsMatter works with girls developmentally, focusing first on movement that promotes body awareness. The girls then experiment with language, talking first to themselves to explore their own speech about the Life Issues for Teens in GirlsMatter.com. This enables them to move to the social level, discussing the issues with other girls and their teacher/leader while establishing and strengthening their bonds with each other. At that point they are ready to take advantage of the nonpartisan evidence that abounds in WomenMatter and learn to interview others who may hold different views and discuss and debate those differences. The last step is to go out into the world to practice the skills they’ve learned. Girls emerge with new understanding and confidence. It really works! But don’t take our word for it; hear from the girls themselves on GirlsMatter!
Article Posted on: 3/9/2004
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