Hope and a Tool: the History of Title IX of the Education Amendments Of

Hope and a Tool: The History women. As late as 1975 in high schools across the country, the average budget for boys' of Title IX of the Education sports was five times more than that for girls'. Amendments of 1972 At the college level, the proportion rose to 30 By Margaret Nash © times more money for men's athletics than for December 1993 women's.1 ([email protected]) Scholarships to colleges could be awarded only to men, and financial aid, including Twenty-one years ago Congress passed the loans, could be denied to women who were first legislation ever to prohibit sex married, pregnant, or had children. Colleges discrimination in public education. Title IX of and universities had quota systems limiting the Education Amendments of 1972 banned the number of women who could attend and sex discrimination in all schools that receive had different standards for admission. For federal funds. As a result of Title IX, the example, in the 1970s Cornell admitted number and proportion of women enrolled in women only if they had SAT scores 30-40 postsecondary institutions increased, and points higher than the male average, and at educational and employment opportunities Pennsylvania State University men were five for females became more equitable. In spite of times more likely to be admitted than women. the significance of this legislation, historians High schools and colleges expelled pregnant largely have ignored Title IX. When Title IX is students, married or not, and elementary and discussed at all, it usually is solely in terms of secondary school systems fired pregnant athletics. This paper is an attempt to fill in this teachers, including married ones. School gap. The paper discusses how Congress systems routinely invested less in pension passed Title IX, legislative efforts to weaken programs for women employees than for the law, and the Office for Civil Rights' men.2 Clearly, discrimination against girls enforcement of Title IX. Finally, the paper and women was rampant in school systems assesses changes in schools and in female and institutions of higher education. The need educational experiences as a result of this for protective legislation was great. legislation and weighs those changes against how far we still need to go to achieve gender Congress Passes Title IX equity in education. During the 1950s and 60s Congress passed a Before Title IX, differential admission, number of laws providing financial aid to treatment, and hiring of students, staff and institutions of higher education and their faculty was commonplace. Vocational students. Many of these laws were set to education programs were segregated by expire in 1971, so in 1970 members of gender, and schools allowed girls entry into Congress introduced various bills to extend only a few programs. Programs open to girls and expand these programs. Several key included training for low-paying occupations events led Congress to discuss legislation in clerical fields and in homemaking prohibiting sex discrimination in education in programs that did not train students for wage- conjunction with the extension of these earning occupations at all. Girls often were financial aid laws. excluded from science and math courses and clubs. Guidance counselors routinely gave students interest inventories that were color- 1 "Sex Discrimination Regulations," Hearings before coded; a boy and girl with similar interests the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education of were directed into gender-specific careers. the Committee on Education and Labor. Schools had sex-segregated water fountains, (Washington, DC: House of Representatives lunch tables, closets, toys, and even reading Committee on Education and Labor) 1975, 155, 74. 2 lists. School sports, at both the secondary and National Advisory Council on Women's postsecondary levels, offered few if any Educational Programs, "Title IX: The Half Full, programs and opportunities for girls and Half Empty Glass," (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education) 1981, 12, 15, 19, 21, 11. and the bill Green proposed never went In 1963 the U.S. Commission on the Status of further than the hearing stage.5 Women issued a report documenting the In August, 1971, Senators Birch Bayh and secondary status of women in the U.S., with a George McGovern introduced amendments to special focus on women's economic ban sex discrimination in higher education. disadvantages. One of the results of this study Altogether, five amendments were was the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Federation introduced, including amendments to the of Business and Professional Women worked Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and Titles IV, VI and quickly to establish state-level commissions VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Opponents on the status of women that would parallel disliked both the content of the proposals, and the U.S. Commission. This created a network the federal power these amendments would of women and men on the state level who give over states' operation of higher researched and documented discrimination education. Through parliamentary against women across the country, and maneuvering, Strom Thurmond managed to therefore helped to build grassroots support get the Senate to approve unanimously the for legislation aimed at gender equity.3 higher education bill without considering the sex discrimination amendments.6 In 1970 the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) filed a class action administrative At the same time the House was working on complaint against hundreds of colleges and its own omnibus higher education bill. The universities that had contracts with the federal subcommittee, headed by Edith Green, government and charged them with violating included a special provision banning sex Executive Order 11246 prohibiting sex discrimination, modeled on Title VI of the discrimination in federal contracts. Also in Civil Rights Act. Various members wanted 1970, a presidential task force on women's the prohibition of sex discrimination to have rights and responsibilities issued its report limited coverage of admissions policies; that documented the existence of sex bias in finally they agreed to exempt all American society and recommended undergraduate college admissions policies legislative changes to ban sex discrimination from coverage. The bill next went to the in education and other areas.4 Education and Labor Committee, where Green, with help from women's groups, When various education bills were up for lobbied to have that exemption deleted and extension in 1970, Representative Edith Green replaced with one that would exempt schools agreed to sponsor a bill to outlaw sex that were 90 percent or more of one sex. That discrimination in education if the need for version passed the committee and was sent to such a bill could be documented. Such the House, with an attached note from nine documentation was not hard to find, and at Republican members who objected to the sex the hearings held by Green in June and July of discrimination policy. The stated basis of their 1970, 75 different statements documenting the objection was federal restrictions and controls problems related to sex role stereotyping and of higher education.7 discrimination in education were made by educators and various women's groups. These When the bill was sent to the House, once hearings were not well attended, however, again the amendment exempting all undergraduate admissions was introduced, and passed. The House inserted this language in the Senate's bill and sent it back. In November 1971, with the bill in the Senate's 3 Constance Threinen and Alice Weck, "Ten Years Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Bayh of Title IX" (Madison, WI: Wisconsin Department introduced an amended version of his earlier of Public Instruction) 1983, 2. 4 Andrew Fishel and Janice Pottker, National 5 Politics and Sex Discrimination in Education Threinen and Weck, 7; Fishel and Pottker, 96. 6 (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books) 1977, 95; and Fishel and Pottker, 97-99. Threinen and Weck, 6. 7 Fishel and Pottker, 100-101. proposal. Broader than the House version, it immediately began efforts to weaken the would exempt religious schools and impact of Title IX.10 predominantly one-sex schools. The Committee sent the bill to the full Senate in February 1972, still without a sex Legislative Efforts to Weaken Title IX discrimination provision. Now Bayh proposed Hot debates over busing may have a new amendment; it required protection overshadowed Title IX initially, but soon against sex discrimination in services opponents of Title IX created sensationalistic available to students within an institution or press coverage of their own. The main targets in employment within an institution; in the of criticism were coeducational physical area of admissions, it exempted academic education classes, intercollegiate athletics, and elementary and secondary schools, military traditional single sex organizations such as and religious schools, and private fraternities and sororities. undergraduate colleges. This amendment was passed and sent to Senate-House conference.8 In 1974 Congress passed amendments that limited Title IX by excluding from coverage The conference committee took three months social fraternities and sororities, Boy Scouts, to resolve all the differences between the bills- Girl Scouts, YMCA, YWCA, Camp Fire Girls -250 in all, only eleven of which dealt with sex and other voluntary youth service discrimination. Most of the higher education organizations. In 1976 Congress passed community spent their time trying to several other amendments limiting Title IX. influence the outcome of other sections of the These amendments allowed scholarships to be bill that they considered more important. awarded as prizes for beauty contests, and Without any organized opposition, the allowed single-sex events, such as Boys' State Conference Committee adopted Title IX and Girls' State programs and father-son and "without giving much consideration to its mother-daughter events, to continue to be eventual impact."9 President Nixon signed sponsored by schools.11 the Education Amendments of 1972 in June, and they became effective July 1, 1972.

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