Re[2]: OCR and Title IX

Jacquelyn Zimmerman (Jacquelyn_Zimmerman@ed.gov)
Mon, 4 May 1998 09:22:19 -0400

Linda, I think what you say here is a reiteration of what I said in the
message to which you are replying: one battle was won but not the war.

I agree, at least it appears that way. The question is: what shall we
do about the conditions you raise? Your public/private dichotomy below
may be better turned into a public-private cooperative. For example,
would Title IX be possible without the federal component? And, on the
other side, perhaps the private case you mention will bring to light
better what OCR needs to do that it's not doing as you see it.

Finally, in fairness to myself who worked on the Title IX booklet and
to OCR which had the lead responsibility for it, it is a booklet, not a
book, it is a retrospective, not a history, it is very short, not
article- or book-length and therefore limited, as you point out, but by
the nature of what it is.

jacquelyn_zimmerman@ed.gov

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: OCR and Title IX
Author: edequity@tristram.edc.org at Internet
Date: 5/1/98 8:58 AM

But Jacquelyn, there was no discussion of what was done about the
perpetrator (the perp, as the jargon in sexual assault circles goes); no
discussion of how the school was handled; no discussion of monitoring
the situation to make sure other children were not involved. There's no
problem handling the indiviidual student's situation; I often recommend
avoiding a perp, when the child can't handle the assault. But that is
not the end of the story, and certainly it is a devastating admission of
bankrupt policy and action for the federal government to present this as
a fable of success for Title IX. It is rather a measure of just how
poorly the OCR frames its national responsibilities to public policy and
law. This is why private lawsuit based on Franklin v. Gwinnett has
become the first line of defense for public equity.
Linda Purrington
Title IX Advocates
lpurring@earthlink.net

>
> Linda Purrington wrote:
> "The following paragraph is excerpted from Title IX: 25 Years of
> Progress
> [sic] (Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 1997).
> It
> troubles me that this is held out as an example of how success in
> equity; do you have a similar reaction?:
>
> "Sexual Asaults and Threats in High School
> In one school district, a disabled sophomore high school student was
> sexually harassed by her male music teacher."
>
> Linda's questions about this case are right on target. I was involved with
> writing this publication and many of us who worked on it raised the same
> questions as Linda. I believe, however, that this example reflects the
variety
> of "solutions" required to incidents of this kind. Here, it was most likely
> quicker to get the student out of the abusive setting than to change the
setting
> itself. The important immediate goal was to protect the student. Of course
> that solution doesn't protect students (plural) for the long run. Once again,
> there is always more than meets the eye and questions like Linda's help us see
> better, become more aware of levels of inquiry.
>
> jacquelyn_zimmerman@ed.gov

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