Womenstake

Weekly Round-Up

by Andrea Maruniak, Program Assistant, 
National Women's Law Center 

Choices Campus Blog discussed the ways in which the U.S. lags behind other countries in implementing family-friendly work policies, such as paid sick leave, paid paternal leave and breastfeeding breaks.

Hot on the heels of the new mammogram guidelines, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released new recommendations for cervical cancer tests, reported The New York Times.

Jezebel examined college rape prevention programs and the ways in which many of these programs have shifted the focus from women to men.

RH Reality Check explored a case in which a jailed pregnant woman was denied critical care.

A group of women ski jumpers sued the organizers of the Vancouver Olympics after they were denied the right to compete in the games. Their suit failed because, according to the British Columbia Appeal Court, the organizers didn’t have the power to allow the women’s competition. (Via Feministing.)

Register Today: Call on State Early Childhood Advisory Councils

by Helen Blank, Director, Leadership and Public Policy,
National Women's Law Center,
and Danielle Ewen, Director of Child Care and Early Education,
CLASP

So what are states doing with economic recovery funds that are allocated to fund State Early Childhood Advisory Councils?

To help provide an update on states’ progress in using these funds to get a Council off the ground as well as information about the workings of existing Councils, the National Women’s Law Center and CLASP are hosting a free conference call. 

Update on State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Register Today! This conference call is free to participants, but registration is required.

More details about the key provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are available on our websites at www.nwlc.org/economicrecovery and www.clasp.org.

The call will be moderated by Helen Blank of the National Women’s Law Center and Danielle Ewen from CLASP. Presenters will discuss the progress states are making in planning and implementing Councils and include:

·    Rachel Demma, Senior Policy Analyst in Early Childhood Education, National Governors Association

·    Karen Schimke, President, Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, New York

·    Dave Edie, Early Education Policy Analyst, Wisconsin Council on Children and Families

·    Jim Redmon, Executive Director, Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund

We look forward to you joining us!

Weekly Round-Up

by Katherine Beauchemin, Communication Intern, 
National Women's Law Center 

The American Prospect took a look at Title IX through the eyes of a father as he witnessed the positive impact of Little League baseball on his daughter.

According to a Washington Post report, a panel of independent experts concluded, “Sex-education programs that encourage teens to delay sexual activity and teach them about contraception cut risky sexual behavior, increase condom use and lower the chances of getting the AIDS virus and other infections.”

The Centers for Disease Control eliminated the requirement that immigrant women and girls receive the HPV vaccine, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and other organizations announced. 

In an attempt to curb teen pregnancies and encourage girls to attend college, a group in North Carolina is paying girls who enroll in college and don’t become pregnant, Opposing Views reported. 

Economists at MIT conducted a national study which links girls’ school environment with success in mathematics, reported MIT News.

Chally posted links to a collection of excellent feminist carnivals on Feministe. 

NWLC Files Comments with Georgia Department of Education

by Kolbe Franklin, Program Associate, 
National Women’s Law Center

On September 30, the Center filed comments with the Georgia Department of Education regarding the state’s proposed new rule on homebound instruction services. Specifically, the Center recommended a number of changes that Georgia can make to ensure that its rule does not adversely affect pregnant and parenting students so they can benefit from homebound instruction services when they need them. These services play a significant role in keeping students on track to graduate and Title IX requires that schools give pregnant and parenting students equal access to these important services.

NWLC Receives 2009 Race and Gender Equity Hot Schott Award

by Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment,
National Women’s Law Center 

We are pleased to announce that the National Women’s Law Center received the 2009 Race and Gender Equity Hot Schott Award with our partner, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, for our collaboration in researching and writing Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation.

Bestowed by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, this award is granted to individuals and organizations that have “demonstrated exceptional commitment and achieved extraordinary results in advocating for equity in public education.” We received the award at the Hot Schott Awards Gala and Dinner, which were held as part of Schott’s second annual National Opportunity to Learn Education Summit. To learn more about the Summit and Gala, click here.

From Left to right: Cyneé Simpson, anchor for ABC-7/WJLA-TV’s Weekend Evening News, Veronica Rivera, Legislative Staff Attorney for MALDEF, Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment at NWLC, and John Jackson, President and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education.

NWLC Weighs in on Department of Education Distribution of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funding

by Kolbe Franklin, Program Associate,
National Women’s Law Center

The U.S. Department of Education has recently issued a series of proposed application guidelines for distribution to states of its ARRA funding, including the State Fiscal Stabilization funds, the Race to the Top funds, and the Investing in Innovation (also known as i3) funds. The Center is commenting on these proposed guidelines, encouraging the Department to make clear that programs addressing the needs of girls particularly at risk of dropping out are eligible for such funds, and that state data collection and reporting requirements should include data on students’ gender (in addition to race/ethnicity and other categories), and pregnant or parenting status.

NWLC Releases Report on Programs and Practices that Work Recognition Project

by Kolbe Franklin, Program Associate, 
National Women’s Law Center

In partnership with the Association for Career and Technical Education, the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, and the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education, NWLC recently released its Programs and Practices that Work (PPTW) recognition project report, Building New Possiblities: Promising Practices for Recruiting and Retaining Students in Career and Technical Education Programs That Are Nontraditional for Their Gender.

PPTW aims to recognize local and state educational agencies or schools across the country that have implemented effective programs and practices for improving student access to and success in pursuing careers that are non-traditional for their gender. This year’s report highlights GirlTech Program at Francis Tuttle Technology Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which has successfully raised the enrollment and retention of under-represented students in nontraditional CTE courses.

NWLC Condemns Sexual Assault at High School Dance

Police are currently investigating the recent gang rape of a 15-year-old girl at her school during a homecoming dance in Richmond, California.

The following is a statement by Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC): 

“The circumstances reported about this brutal assault, as well as the shocking inaction of those who stood by and watched it happen, are shocking – and should be widely condemned.

“Schools have a responsibility and legal obligation to prevent and address sexual assault and harassment at school-sponsored activities.  Even a semblance of equality of educational opportunity cannot be achieved if schools do not do their part to detect and prevent such violence.”

'Glee' Cheerleading Coach and Pregnancy Discrimination - Shame on Sue!

by Amanda Stone, Fellow, 
National Women's Law Center

“Q, take off those sunglasses. I want to look in your eyes when I tell you this. You’re off the Cheerios. I can’t have a pregnant girl on the squad. You’re a disgrace.” These are the words that Sue Sylvester, coach of the school’s award-winning competitive cheerleading squad, the Cheerios, told pregnant teen Quinn Fabray at the end of this week’s episode of "Glee," the new hit Fox musical high school series.

Can Sue do this? Absolutely not! "Glee" is set in what appears to be a public high school in Ohio. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits schools that receive federal funds from discriminating against students on the basis of sex, including pregnancy. In fact, the Title IX regulations explicitly provide protection to pregnant students. Specifically, the provision prohibits discrimination based on a student’s “pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom.”

Practically speaking, what does Title IX mean for pregnant students? Schools subject to Title IX must provide these students with equal access to all school programs and activities. This means schools may not assume that pregnant students cannot attend school or participate in school activities. In fact, these are precisely the types of outmoded stereotypes Congress intended to address when it passed Title IX.  

So what does this mean for schools? Well, a school cannot penalize pregnant students for violating its moral code. Nor can it require pregnant students to take steps not required of all students with medical conditions requiring the treatment of a physician. A pregnant student’s participation in school activities should be made in consultation with the student and her doctor and a school may not erect hurdles, large or small, to discourage her participation.

Sue’s actions clearly violated Title IX, but kicking Quinn off of the cheerleading squad also made bad policy. Studies indicate that participation in school activities helps to keep students engaged in school, thus making it less likely they will give up and drop out. Unfortunately, what happened to Quinn is not unique -– schools all over the country still discriminate against pregnant students, 37 years after Title IX was enacted. Shame on Sue!

October is Sex Ed Month of Action – Get Moving!

By Candace Webb, Outreach Manager,
National Women's Law Center 

Since 1996, Congress has provided more than one billion dollars in federal funding to states, communities and school districts to implement “abstinence-only” programs. And just last week, Congress voted once again to continue funding these failed programs. These programs have repeatedly been proven ineffective, as studies have shown. And as my colleague Julia Kaye pointed out last week some federally funded abstinence-only programs promote stereotypes about gender and relationships.

Unlike failed abstinence-only programs, comprehensive sexuality education programs provide teens complete information, are medically accurate, and have an evidence base of effectiveness. For these reasons and more, the National Women’s Law Center fully supports efforts to help young people on their campuses and in their communities across the country to build momentum for comprehensive sex education during October’s Sex Ed Month of Action – and to urge their Members of Congress to become co-sponsors of the Responsible Education About Life Act (the REAL Act).  

Having been a youth sexual health educator myself, I know just how important medically accurate and science-based comprehensive sexuality education is to keeping teens and young adults knowledgeable and equipped with the skills needed to make life-long healthy and responsible decisions. On many occasions, I educated youth that came from very conservative families where sex and birth control were taboo topics and were never discussed. On the flip side, I came across youth who had parents that used a positive sexuality approach toward sexuality education and talked openly and honestly with their children from a young age about sex, relationships, and sexual health issues so that they could develop healthy attitudes toward sexuality and themselves.

Another lesson I learned as a youth sexual health educator was the vital role schools and communities have in preparing young people for a lifetime of sexual health. I learned that many young women relied on the information they received in schools because they were not getting this much-needed information in a more intimate family setting. In the ideal world, parents would be the primary sexual health educators of their children – meaning they would be comfortable talking to their children about relationships and safer sex, and there would be less pressure on schools to be the exclusive providers of the only accurate sexual health information youth will ever get.