Womenstake

Is It Just Me, or Was the Civil Rights Movement a Really Big Deal?

by Elizabeth Yates, Program Assistant,
National Women's Law Center

Of course, I didn't teach myself about the Civil Rights Movement. I was lucky enough to receive a sound public education with a social studies curriculum based on historical scholarship, not politicized maneuvering.

Students in Texas, and soon in many other states, may not be so fortunate.

Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D -TX) recently introduced House Resolution 1593, condemning the Texas State Board of Education for discarding the work of teachers and scholars who cooperatively developed state social studies standards and instead adopting revised standards that, many claim, misrepresent U.S. history and are politically and ideologically motivated.  For example, the new standards downplay the struggle of the Civil Rights Movement and de-emphasize historical boundaries between Church and State.

This development in Texas is especially troubling because, as the state is so large, many publishers write all of their textbooks to meet curriculum standards in Texas, with the result that other states have little choice but to conform their curricula as well.

House Resolution 1593 addresses this issue and asks the Texas State Board of Education to ensure that the curriculum standards they set are based on historical scholarship, and to recognize that every student deserves an education that is inclusive of their personal culture, history and background.

The struggles of women and minorities are ongoing. How can our future leaders address their generations' challenges without an accurate and comprehensive understanding of our nation's history?

Educational Equity and Reproductive Justice: Latina Week of Action

by Micole Allekotte, Health Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

This post is the second in a series about the intersections between reproductive justice and other social justice movements.

This week is Latina Week of Action for Reproductive Justice, organized by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, and the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. The groups are coordinating their efforts to enhance the voice of the Latina reproductive justice movement.

The reproductive justice movement supports individuals' rights to have the children they want, raise the children they have, and plan their families through education and access to contraception and abortion. Reproductive justice can only be achieved when all people have the resources, as well as the economic, social, and political power to make decisions about their relationships, health, and reproduction, so fighting for reproductive justice requires fighting for social justice.

Good News for Early Childhood from Our Smallest State

by Stephanie Robinson, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

While a number of states have seen their waiting lists for child care assistance skyrocket, one small state has recognized that it is critical to maintain its investments helping families work and children succeed. Rhode Island passed its FY 2011 budget in June, demonstrating its continued commitment to children and families. The state, which actually guarantees child care assistance to all families earning up to 180 percent of the federal poverty level (an income of $32,958 for a family of three), will continue this guarantee in its FY 2011 budget. In addition, the legislature rejected a gubernatorial proposal for a 5 percent reduction ($1.1 million) in the rate it pays to child care providers serving low-income children. This will mean a lot to the low-income women in the state's child care workforce and we hope will allow these providers to maintain the quality of care they offer to children.

Pre-kindergarten programs will also benefit from the new FY 2011 budget. The state will continue to offer $800,000 to supplement the federal Head Start program. These funds will allow 129 low-income three- and four-year olds to receive Head Start comprehensive services. Meanwhile, Rhode Island's new budget will also provide some funding for free, voluntary high-quality prekindergarten programs that will be phased in over 10 years beginning in FY 2012. The state's pre-kindergarten programs will be offered in a range of settings, including child care, Head Start, and public schools. Until recently, Rhode Island was one of only twelve states that did not have a state pre-kindergarten program.

These budget decisions are good news for Rhode Island's children. Children and families would benefit if other states followed suit.

Standing Up for the Education of Teen Parents

by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel, 
National Women’s Law Center 

For me, Wednesday was an "electric" day this week. Not only did my house finally get power back after a 4-day blackout following severe storms here in the D.C. area, but also (and far more importantly) Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced the Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act, which has the potential to spark real change in the educational outcomes for pregnant and parenting students! 

The bill (H.R. 5894) is designed to address the educational and related needs of pregnant and parenting teens, to improve their high school graduation rates and their access to postsecondary education and career opportunities. The legislation sets up a grant program to provide states and local school districts with a framework and needed funds so they can offer academic support and related services to pregnant and parenting students, designate a coordinator to oversee the education of pregnant and parenting students, and revise school policies that create barriers to the success of these students, some of which discriminate based on pregnancy in violation of Title IX. It aims to change the culture at schools, so that pregnant and parenting students are no longer stigmatized and instead are encouraged to reach their educational goals—which will benefit not only them but also their children, their communities, and our nation as a whole. 

Here at NWLC, we have been working to improve educational outcomes for pregnant and parenting students, and this is a very important step forward. For further information about what the Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act does, check out this new fact sheet. We hope the provisions of this bill will be incorporated into a new and improved Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the reauthorization of which is a work in progress. Stay tuned for more information!

Help Wanted: Tools for Schools to Combat Cyber Attacks

by Naeema Hernandez, Intern,
and Jesse Krohn, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

On Sunday, the New York Times ran an article about cyberbullying and the difficulties schools are having in assisting the victims and punishing and deterring the offenders. It’s a complicated issue. No one could underestimate the pain and humiliation endured by a young student tormented by harassing text messages, cruel Facebook posts or nasty emails; such harassment has the additionally painful element of inescapability, unlike traditional schoolyard bullying—the tormenters can reach you at literally any time of day, in any place, including at home, at church, at soccer practice, or at any other place you consider a sanctuary. At the same time, the school officials have expressed concern that the “off campus” nature of cyberbullying makes it difficult to regulate, as the case the Times explored, J.C. ex rel. R.C. v. Beverly Hills Unified School Dist., exemplifies.

Yet there are legal tools for addressing cyberbullying. For example, if it is reasonably foreseeable that “off campus” speech will make its way to campus, the speaker does nothing to stop the migration, and there’s a nexus between the speech and the school, it’s not “off campus” anymore. And if it causes substantial disruption in school, or the risk thereof, it can be regulated, and may violate Title IX. Had the harassment LaShonda Davis suffered come in the form of text messages sent from the desk next to her instead of whispers, or from a YouTube video students watched crowded around a screen in the computer lab instead of shouted across the playground, it seems likely the Supreme Court would have reached the same conclusion it did in Davis.

The Same Conversation, Thirty Eight Years Later—Happy Birthday, Title IX

by Neena Chaudhry, Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

I have spent a good chunk of time this week talking about a Title IX trial against Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. The issue is that the school cut its women’s volleyball team to save money and claims that it can nevertheless satisfy Title IX by elevating its cheerleading squad to a varsity sport. There’s also that pesky little issue about the school admittedly manipulating its athletic rosters to under report the number of men and inflate the number of women actually playing. At bottom, however, the Quinnipiac case is about whether a school is providing its female students with truly equal athletic opportunities or is simply cost cutting on the backs of women. 

Today is the 38th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law passed in 1972 that has literally revolutionized our world. Because of Title IX, I am sitting where I am, writing what I am. Women are now allowed to go to college and graduate schools, they are allowed to run the full length of a basketball court, they can go to the moon, and much more. Yet, despite the many doors that this remarkable law has opened, we are still having many of the same conversations that we did almost 40 years ago, especially in the realm of athletics. 

Admittedly, I'm not the most patient person, and I feel like the child in the back of the car who keeps asking "Are we there yet?" Sadly, the answer is "no," which is why we must keep fighting until we are. 

Pssst . . . Pass it on!

by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Today is the 38th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans sex discrimination in education. Unfortunately, far too many schools, administrators, teachers, counselors, students, and parents still are not aware of what Title IX encompasses and what they can do to help ensure that all students get equal educational opportunities, regardless of their sex.

That’s why we are so excited to announce the release of our new guide, It’s Your Education: How Title IX Protections Can Help You. This easy-to-use tool provides information for students at all levels of education about their rights under Title IX, to ensure that male and female students receive the education they deserve. It’s Your Education lays out the key protections under Title IX—such as protection against sexual harassment in schools, equal treatment for pregnant and parenting students, and equal (non-stereotypical) encouragement in all fields of study—and gives tips on what students can do if they suspect that they are experiencing discrimination in school.

Please share this information far and wide, with the students, parents, and teachers you know, because what they don’t know CAN hurt them!

Title IX: 38 Years Later

by Kavitha Sivashanker, Fellow,
National Women's Law Center

Today marks the 38th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX is a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in all federally funded educational programs. It has opened up many more opportunities for girls and women in education since its passage, and high school athletics is one such area where this landmark legislation has made a tremendous difference in girls’ lives (and in my life).

I started playing tennis at the age of 5, and it was a huge part of my life growing up. So when I entered high school, it never even occurred to me that the opportunity to participate on my high school tennis team would likely not have existed in 1971. Research has shown the many benefits of competitive athletics for girls, especially for minority female athletes, and playing tennis on my high school’s varsity team definitely had a positive impact on my academic and social experiences in high school. It helped me learn how to perform under pressure, how to work effectively as a team, and maybe most importantly, it developed my self-confidence and ability to persevere in difficult situations.

Before Title IX’s passage, fewer than 300,000 high school girls played competitive sports. And now, over 3 million do. We clearly have come a long way, but Title IX’s goal of equal opportunity in athletics remains far from realized. Too many women and girls are still not being treated fairly by their schools when it comes to sports. We must continue to work to increase female athletic opportunities in high school, college, and beyond. In its 38 years in existence, Title IX has helped us make great strides, but as we look back on our accomplishments, we must also remember to continue advocating for the right that all girls and women have to equal educational opportunities.

Dreams Deferred for Latino Youth: SB 1070 likely to Increase Latino Dropout Rates

by Naeema Hernandez, Intern
National Women’s Law Center

Narratives of the U.S. immigration experience are well-documented. For many, the United States offers safety from hostile and life-threatening situations and the possibility of one day achieving the "American Dream." Many Latinos who migrate to the United States have hopes and aspirations of achieving the dream, and it is a modest one; it is a dream of being able to provide family members with a safe and secure home and access to free and adequate educational opportunities.

It is also well-established that the right to obtain a free public education in the United States includes all children and youth, even those who are undocumented or who have undocumented parents. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that denying children that have not been legally admitted into the United States the opportunity to obtain a K-12 public education is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Feeling Blue (Not Pink!) About Gender Stereotypes in Education

by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Last Friday, we filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in the appeal of an ACLU case challenging the legality of single-sex classes in a public school in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Hopefully the brief—submitted on behalf of NWLC and 38 other organizations and individuals who signed on in support—will help to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse the harmful decision handed down by the district court.

The Supreme Court has made it very clear, for decades, that the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause safeguards the rights of all children to equal educational opportunities and a public education free of gender stereotypes. Because state actions that classify students by sex are so often based on overbroad generalizations about the different abilities and interests of males and females—thus limiting the opportunities available to members of both sexes—the Court reviews such classifications with heightened, "skeptical" scrutiny. 

To survive heightened scrutiny, schools must show that they have an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for separating students by sex. And the Supreme Court has explicitly said that the justification must be "genuine," not "hypothesized or invented post hoc in response to litigation," and that it cannot be based on stereotypes about males and females. It is a tough standard to meet, and the state has the burden of proving the justification for its program.