No, you're not making too much of this inequity. It happens all over the
United States. Girls' sports tend to be given the less-preferred times
of day, times of the week, and seasons of the year. Along with this go
less well-kept fields and facilities, fewer sports scholarships, and
various other barriers to equal opportunity.
An equitable way to handle conflicts of time/date/season is to
alternate boys' and girls' access to the preferred slots. A way to
handle the facilities inequities is to do the same, year on, year off,
until the community finds a way to provide truly equal facilities.
And the best way to get the ball rolling is for concerned parents,
students, and other citizens to document the inequity, take it to the
community press and the school board with a clear request for redress
within a certain time period, after which it is appropriate to find more
formal ways of achieving equity.
Make sure you keep the process out in the public, or it may tend to
languish in the broom closet. The term to aim for in all government is
"transparency"--if the school rules are open to scrutiny, they are less
likely to be inequitable.
If you need help, Title IX Advocates can help with letters of support
to the press and the school board, links to legal support, etc. Just
email us.
Linda Purrington
Title IX Advocates
lpurring@earthlink.net
P.S. Remember that Title IX is the law that also forbids sexual
harassment in the schools. School districts that discriminate don't stop
at athletics. It's usually a package deal.
Kelly Clark wrote:
Something occurred to me last night as I sat and watched my daughter's
track meet. The boys always ran first, and the varsity always ran before
JV.
Kelly Clark
SUNY Geneseo
<clark@geneseo.edu>
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