Womenstake

Bad Call! Woman Referee Removed from Boys' B-ball Game

by Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager
National Women’s Law Center

St. Mary’s Academy in Kansas told Michelle Campbell, a female referee, that she couldn't officiate a boys’ high school basketball game because she is a woman. Are you kidding me?

The Kansas State High School Activities Association is considering whether to penalize the school and take away its ability to compete against the association's more than 300 member schools. The association should act quickly to ban them — they belong in the Discrimination World Championships, not the world of high school sports.

Major kudos to fellow referees, Fred Shockey and Darin Putthoff, for refusing to call the game in Michelle's place. Any referee worth his or her whistle would know that this was a bad call.

After the Veto, How Many People Will Miss Out?

by Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager
National Women's Law Center

Last week, the House fell two votes short of the number needed to override President Bush’s veto of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill. The Labor-HHS-Education bill is one of our favorites –- covering major domestic funding on a range of vital services for women and families including Head Start, child care, family planning, low-income energy assistance, and community health services for the uninsured. Democrats responded with an offer to meet the President halfway, a painful compromise that would mean cuts in services since the funding wouldn’t keep up with inflation. Even so, the cuts weren’t deep enough for the House Republican leadership, which rejected the offer. When members of Congress return after their Thanksgiving break, they’ll have to decide how many children will lose out on Head Start, how many elders will miss meals on wheels, how many families will be shivering this winter.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too! Party poopers.

A Thanksgiving Miracle – Head Start is Finally Reauthorized!

Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager
National Women's Law Center

Yesterday, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, Congress broke through the usual gridlock to deliver the Head Start reauthorization bill. 

The bill expands services for infants and toddlers through Early Head Start, recognizing the importance of reaching more children earlier in life. It also reflects the importance of improving teacher training and credentials and the need to coordinate and expand early childhood education systems within states.  Furthermore, the bill rejects the Administration’s proposal to turn Head Start over to state governments and halts a controversial annual assessment of four-year-olds participating in the program. 

For more details on the reauthorization bill, check out our latest online update. 

Although this bill is an important step forward for Head Start, like any good bill that envisions expanding services to help more children, it needs adequate funding to become a reality.  This year, Congress only provides a $154 million increase for Head Start in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.  Even this small increase may not be enacted, since the President on Tuesday vetoed the appropriations bill and has requested that Congress provide him with a bill that further cuts domestic human service programs. 

Let’s hope Congress continues on with its holiday spirit by refusing to bargain away Head Start funding. 

So What Does Corn Have to Do with Child Care?

Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager
National Women's Law Center

Today, the Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously approved the Farm Bill. While the connection between the Farm Bill and families’ child care costs may not be immediately obvious, one of the lesser-noticed—but important—provisions in the House and Senate versions of the bill would make a big difference for families with growing child care expenses. 

The House and Senate versions of the 2007 Farm Bill, which addresses both agriculture and nutrition policies, would eliminate the cap on the child care deduction for families to qualify for the Food Stamp Program.  The previous cap limited deductions to $200 per month in child care costs for a child under age 2 and $175 per month for a preschooler. 

These amounts have not been adjusted in over a decade, and many working families today are paying far more for child care.  (A new report on child care costs by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies finds that center care for one child can average about $300 to $1,200 a month, depending on where the family lives and the child’s age.)  With the cap removed, more families will qualify for Food Stamp benefits and, as a result, be better able to afford both food and child care.   

Unfortunately, it’s too early to bring out the corn on the cob and celebrate.  The next step is for the bill to go to the Senate floor, followed by the President’s signature.  We will keep you posted. 

A Better Deal for Women

by Melanie Ross Levin

In 1932, President Roosevelt promised “a new deal for the American people.”  Part of that deal included Unemployment Insurance that provided vital temporary income support to workers who are laid off or must leave their jobs at no fault of their own.  For many women workers, Unemployment Insurance is a “No Deal” situation because of inequities in the program’s original 1935 design. 

Over sixty organizations that promote fair treatment and economic opportunity for women today urged Congress to update unemployment insurance by passing The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act, H.R. 2233 and S. 1871.  These bills contain reforms that are of special importance to working women including:

• Providing benefits to part-time workers
• Expanding coverage to workers who must leave jobs for compelling family reasons
• Helping women who have recently left welfare and joined the workforce qualify for benefits
• Encouraging states to boost weekly benefits for unemployed workers who are caring for children or other dependents

These reforms are long overdue.  According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2006, a record 67 million women were employed in the U.S and by 2014 women are projected to account for 47% of the labor force.  Let’s hope Congress acknowledges women’s participation in the labor force by updating Unemployment Insurance for the 21st Century.  Grandma would be proud.