Title IX group says NC high schools fall short in gender equity

A Title IX advocacy group has ranked North Carolina 44th nationally in “gender equity gaps” in sports participation.

The National Women’s Law Center, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., computes “gender equity gaps” by comparing a school’s percentage of female students to its percentage of roster spots taken by a female athlete. The gap is however many percentage points those two numbers are apart.

The group defines a difference of 10 percentage points or more as a large gender equity gap. It says 47.3 percent of all N.C. public high schools fall into that category, and 28 percent of all high schools nationally.

The numbers, by themselves, do not violate Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally-funded education activities, but the NWLC claims it can be an indicator of violations and raise red flags. It used gender equity gap to file a Title IX suit against the Wake County Public Schools System and 11 other school systems nationwide in 2010.

“The courts have said that basically schools have to be very, very close in terms of the percentage gap that is acceptable,” said Neena Chaudhry, senior counsel and director of equal opportunities in athletics for the NWLC who led the recent analysis of the gender sports gaps.

“There’s no set gap to say you are in compliance. ... We picked a very large gap on purpose because in our experience it’s highly unlikely that any school with a 10 or more percentage can show that they’re in compliance with Title IX.”

The Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 says, “No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid.”

Compliance is measured in three areas:

▪  Are female and male opportunities substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments?

▪  If one sex has been underrepresented, can the institution show a history and continuing practice of program expansion?

▪  Can the institution demonstrate that the interests and abilities of that sex have been fully and effectively accommodated by the present program?

One way a school can show it is in compliance, if there is a considerable gap, is by showing it is fully satisfying girls’ interests in sports and affirmatively asking them what they would like to play that is not being offered.

When the NWLC filed its suit against WCPSS, causing the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to investigate, the sides reached a settlement without WCPSS admitting fault or federal officials finding fault. WCPSS asked rising ninth-graders and current students what sports they would like to see added.

In the five years following the suit, more WCPSS high school girls lacrosse programs have formed, some schools have added extra junior varsity volleyball teams and 11 schools added stunt – a sport similar to competitive cheerleading but, unlike competitive cheerleading, counts toward Title IX requirements.

“Title IX is a flexible law and does provide some different ways for schools to comply,” Chaudhry said. “When schools are looking to add (a girls’ sport), they’re not all going to add the same sport.”

WCPSS offers every girls’ sport sanctioned by the N.C. High School Athletic Association, plus gymnastics, stunt and cheerleading, which it deems a varsity sport. Cheerleading coaches are paid on a WCPSS pay scale.

The rankings include all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data used is from the 2011-12 school year, the most recent figures available. Many schools in the south ranked towards the bottom.

According to 2013-14 data by the National Federation of High Schools, North Carolina is 12th in the nation in participation with 214,046 total athletes, of which 127,267 (59.5 percent) were male and 86,779 (40.5 percent) were female.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Title IX group says NC high schools fall short in gender equity."