[dc-zaps] Come to the Title IX Vigil and Rally!

Come to the noon sidewalk vigil and rally on Weds., Jan. 29 in front of the 
Hotel Washington and let Bush and his anti-Title IX Commission know that we 
intend to fight for Title IX!

What: Pro-Title IX Sidewalk Vigil and Rally
When: Wednesday, January 29 at noon
Where: The vigil will be outside the Hotel Washington, 515 15th Street NW, 
between Pennsylvania and F Streets in downtown Washington, D.C. The rally 
will take place immediately across the street in Pershing Park.

SPREAD THE WORD to "soccer moms and dads" and other Title IX supporters 
that equality in athletic programs is under serious attack!


UPDATE:

On January 29 and 30, the Bush Administration's sham "Commission on 
Opportunity in Athletics" will be having its final meeting at the Hotel 
Washington in Washington, D.C. to review their recommended changes to Title 
IX. That report will be issued at the end of February and it will recommend 
gutting federal laws and regulations that promote sex equity in education.

According to the Washington Post, the Commission's recommendations will 
include:

** Allowing colleges and universities to limit the number of scholarships 
awarded to women athletes without regard to enrollment numbers.

** Requiring schools to conduct interest surveys to determine the number of 
athletic opportunities available to women. (In other words, men don't have 
to prove that they're interested in sports, but women do.)

** Permitting a five- to seven- percentage point difference between the 
proportion of female athletes at a school and the percentage of women in 
the student body.

George W. Bush stacked the Commission with opponents of the 30-year-old 
federal requirement for equality in school athletic and academic programs. 
While the D.C. meeting will be closed to public comment, it is crucial that 
pro-Title IX voices be heard now.


BACKGROUND:

George W. Bush, the self-styled "education President", has mounted an 
assault on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law 
that requires federally-funded schools and colleges to provide equal 
educational opportunities to girls and women. A Commission has been set up 
by Bush's Department of Education to "analyze" Title IX and its 
implementation. The so-called "Opportunity in Athletics Commission" has 
many members who are hostile to Title IX and do not support the goal of 
educational equity. The real purpose of this Commission is to provide cover 
for the dismantling of Title IX and the opportunities that it ensures for 
women.

For years, some educational institutions and men's sports organizations 
have criticized Title IX and attempted to slow progress toward sex equality 
in athletic programs. Most of the opposition comes from schools with 
prominent football or basketball teams. Some schools have poured resources 
into developing those few sports while under-funding other athletic 
activities -- for both women and men.

These attacks are designed to roll back the tremendous advances we've made 
in education and athletics since Title IX was passed. Here are some useful 
facts on the progress that has been made:

Athletics -- In the days preceding Title IX, only one in 27 girls played 
varsity high school sports. Today that number has soared to one in 2.5, for 
a total of 2.8 million girls now playing high school sports. Similarly, 
there were 32,000 women on intercollegiate teams prior to Title IX, 
compared with the 150,000 that there are today. Athletic scholarships for 
women were virtually non-existent prior to Title IX. But in 1997, 25 years 
after the passage of Title IX, there were over 10,000 scholarships for 
women athletes.

Education -- In 1977, just a few years after Title IX was signed into law, 
only nine percent of those receiving medical degrees were women, while in 
1997, women received 41 percent of medical degrees. An even larger jump 
occurred in legal education. In 1972, women earned just seven percent of 
law degrees, compared with 44 percent in 1997. As for women earning Ph.D.s, 
in 1977, 25 percent of all doctoral degrees to U.S. citizens went to women; 
by 1997 women earned 41 percent of Ph.D.s.

While great strides have been made, women are still not receiving equal 
treatment or opportunities to participate. In academic subjects, women 
continue to be underrepresented in traditionally male fields that lead to 
greater earning power after graduation. While women received 75 percent of 
all education degrees awarded during the 1997-98 academic year, they 
received only 18 percent of engineering degrees. Women also continue to lag 
behind in earning doctoral and professional degrees. While women's 
participation in athletics has grown steadily, women athletes continue to 
get fewer teams, fewer scholarships and lower budgets than their male 
counterparts.

Repeated studies over the years show that better implementation of Title IX 
is needed. Details on where schools and universities can make improvements 
can be found at the website for the National Coalition on Women and Girls 
in Education <http://www.ncwge.org>.  Additionally, the Women's Sports 
Foundation website <http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org> contains 
information about Title IX's role in ensuring more sports opportunities for 
girls and young women.

Read more about Title IX at NOW's 
website:  http://www.now.org/issues/title_ix/index.html