Re: Equity:tennis vs war

Humphrey, Karen (KHumphre@smtp.cde.ca.gov)
23 Apr 98 15:02:02 PDT


I'm only getting a chance to read this now, and I'm not clear what the
question is for me, but I'll try to respond.

The California Single Gender Academies Pilot Program was constructed
specifically as an educational choice or option. It is the position of
the state that, if certain legal and educational guidelines are followed,
this is a lawful choice for a local educational agency to offer, and one
that can meet the state's educational requirements for middle or high
school students. I'm not an attorney, so I cannot get into extended
discussion of the basis of the legal memo developed by attorneys at the
California Department of Education. Suffice to say that they have
outlined the conditions under which they believe single sex education can
be provided without violating Title IX or any other provision of state or
federal law; and the program requirements were constructed to follow the
legislature's intent in creating the academies and also to provide
specifications that would ensure the quality of education provided to
students within the academies. Key elements of the program are that
attendance at the academies must be voluntary; the academies must provide
a full academic curriculum; and there must be an academy for boys and one
for girls which are substantially equivalent in program, staffing,
facilities, equipment and the like.

As for the practice, the academies have only been in operation a few
months. They have not been challenged legally, and they appear, by and
large, to be fulfilling at least some of the objectives outlined by the
grantees in their proposals (until testing and grade reports are
complete, we won't know if the academic improvements which were intended
actually take place). The expectation is that these programs will
continue to be offered by some California school districts if they are
able to obtain funding (you don't need a state grant to do a program like
this--you can use other district resources--but the state grant has made
start-up much more possible for many districts). It will be some time
before any further conclusions can be drawn from the California program,
but we hope to share the information we get on the CDE website sometime
in the future.

If this hasn't answered your question, please let me know.

Karen Humphrey
KHumphre@smtp.cde.ca.gov


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