Guest
Contributor
Xiaochin
Yan
Xiaochin
Claire Yan is a Policy Fellow in Education Studies at the
Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco.[Yan index]
 The
Whole Title IX Yards
Reform the remedy...
[Xiaochin
Yan] 12/21/04
A new California law, AB 2404, has made the Golden State the
first in the nation to expand federal Title IX requirements to
include local parks and recreation districts. In theory, this
law seeks to equal the playing field for boys and girls who play
sports. In practice, however, it extends many of the harmful
effects of the federal Title IX requirements to community sports
programs, including those run by counties and cities.
Title IX was passed by the federal government to prevent gender
discrimination at educations institutions, particularly college
campuses. But its effect has been to spell the demise of many
male sports teams and events. The effects of this new bill are
similarly predictable.
Like Title
IX, AB 2404 will require that the percentage of boys’ and
girls’ programs be the same as that of boy and girl residents
in the community. If one gender is underrepresented in youth
sports, public agencies must resolve that gap in numbers or risk
facing costly lawsuits. Counties and cities that do not have
money or are unable to recruit more girls will have one way to
achieve statistical equality: by cutting back on programs for
boys.
If lawmakers
take a closer look, they will see that rather than increasing
women’s opportunities, men’s opportunities
are cut to achieve a numerical quota. Since 2000, a total of
435 men’s teams across America’s college campuses
have been eliminated — including 130 track and cross-country
programs, 21 wrestling teams, and 23 swimming teams. In the last
four years, the total number of men’s teams dropped amounts
to five percent of the total number of men’s teams in the
NCAA.
Under pressure
from Title IX’s proportionality requirements,
UCLA has closed its men’s swimming and diving program,
which has produced 16 Olympians. According to a five-year study
by the NCAA, for every woman added to college sports, 3.6 men
were cut. Now that AB 2404 will be extending the same statistical
equality requirements to our local communities, boys’ sports
programs across California can expect the same cuts.
As for remedying
the quality of equipment and field access for girls’ sports,
plenty of communities already have systems in place to resolve
such complaints. Extending Title IX requirements
will simply be another government mandate regulating to death
the very thing it is trying to protect.
The reality is that men and women are different and so are their
levels of interest in sports. In community-sponsored programs,
boys often gravitate towards team sports such as basketball,
while many girls take a liking to dance and arts and crafts.
No amount of heavy-handed tactics or quota regulation is likely
to even out these preferences. It would be wrongheaded to expect
that community sports programs receive the same proportion of
participation from boys and girls. Achieving statistical equality
is a hollow and deceptive victory that only serves to reduce
sports for all kids.
That girls may choose not to participate at the same rate as
boys is a reflection of different strengths, interests, pursuits,
and talents between men and women. Title IX is in need of serious
reform to remedy the negative effects it has caused. It is a
shame the governor and the legislature did not firmly nix such
a damaging idea from spreading to our communities. CRO
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