| Here are the problems: | Very shortly, possibly as early as Wednesday, April 29th, Congress
will be voting on several amendments that will fundamentally alter access
to education by women and people of color. First and foremost among
the proposals is an amendment offered by Rep. Frank Riggs (R-CA), from
the floor, which would prohibit universities and colleges from making admissions
decisions regarding any person or group on the basis of race, sex, color
or national origin. The amendment will be offered to the Higher
Education Act (H.R. 3330) which is being re-authorized.
On the Senate side, Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA), this week, will offer an amendment H.R. 2646, the Expanding Education Savings Accounts Act, that would block-grant most education programs and direct that these be administered by state or local education agencies. |
| Important: | The Gorton amendment would obliterate provisions throughout the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act that aim to eliminate gender bias in teacher
training and curriculum content. In addition, schools would no longer
be encouraged to provide information about sexual harassment as part of
safe schools programs, address the special needs of pregnant and parenting
teens or promote math or science courses to girls. The Gorton amendment
is a giant step backwards for women and girls in education.
This amendment, if adopted, would effectively abolish the federal Department of Education and shift funds in many previously targeted programs to general funds. This means that states would not have to provide financial assistance or operate special programs under the Women's Education Equity Act (WEEA), Title IV (which monitors civil rights compliance), Safe and Drug-free Schools program, bilingual education, School-to-Work and many other areas. As a consequence, sex equity in education as well as access to education by economically disadvantaged students would be diminished. |
| Background: | The Riggs' amendment is modeled on the infamous California ballot Proposition
209, passed in 1996, which has resulted in a deep plunge of admissions
of minority students to colleges and universities in that state.
Admission of African American students at three University of California
law schools dropped by 71% in 1996-97, while admissions of African American,
Chicano, Latina, and American Indian students for Fall 1998 semester have
dropped by more than 50%!
Elimination of affirmative action in education will also take a toll on women students who comprise more than 50% of undergraduate student bodies, but are not well represented at the graduate level or in some majors, such as mathematics and engineering. We must safeguard affirmative action programs because they help redress gender, racial, and ethnic discrimination -- practices which characterized university admissions for decades in the past. |
| How you can help: | Please call your U.S. Representative immediately and ask him/her to vote against the Riggs Amendment when it is brought up on the House floor; this may happen as soon as Wednesday (April 29th), but could also happen later in the week. The message is that we must safeguard access of women and minority students to higher education. And affirmative action is the best way at this time. |
| MESSAGE: | We must not limit the ability of colleges and universities to attract
a diverse student body and to make decisions on how best diversity can
be attained. We have already seen what Prop. 209 has done in California
and it is clear that the same plunge in admissions rates will occur nationwide
if the Riggs amendment passes.
Similarly, call your Senators as soon as possible to urge them to oppose the Gorton amendment that would block grant nearly all education department programs. |
| MESSAGE: | These targeted programs are especially important to women and girls
who have traditionally been denied equal access to education. They
were designed to address special needs of female students that were being
ignored by state or local education programs. Federal program mandates
under the Department of Education and civil rights laws must be retained.
The main number for Congress is 202-224-3121; the operator will connect you with your U.S. Representative and Senators. |