Ms. Dennis:
Thank you for explaining to all of us how OCR enforcement operates. I
wish, as a fellow attorney I shared your apparent approval of the quality
of the work that your agency does with respect to enforcement. The more
cynical side of my nature forces me to ask the, I suppose, the impertinent
question: How is it, 25 years after existence of this statute, and so much
violation of it, no termination actions have even been forwarded to the DOJ
for enforcement? Is it not remotely possible that a few well crafted
enforcement actions could nudge educational administrators, school boards
and boards of trustees and regents to reassess their risk calculus in
maintaining funding and other policies in violation of the law?
Your statement that OCR has been successful in voluntary settlement actions
is not well supported by the facts as I understand them. [See The WOmen's
Sports Foundation Report on Title IX, Athletics and the Office for Civil
Rights, 1998] As a memer of the Fresno County Title IX Equity Coalition, I
was appalled at the performance of the OCR in monitoring compliance with
the voluntary actions agreed to by the University. I have to be fair and
compliment the Agency for the work it did in investigating CSUF, however I
must give it a double "F" for 'failure in follow-up." The University
rarely, if ever seemed to comply with deadlines established in the
voluntary settlement documents. THe Agency's response was to extend the
deadlines.
I send this criticism not to berate well meaning staff attorneys, I
certainly am sure that you are are not given the resourcs to adequately do
the job; what disapoints me so much is that 25 years after the passage of
Title IX, so much discrimination, on the basis of gender continues unabated
when we have the laws to put a stop to this shameful treatment of young
women in our educational system.
I hope that people involved in this discussion will share their impressions
of the performance of OCR. It is time to not only look at the harrassers
and say shame, but also to identify the shame in not using fully the tools
at our and your disposal.
Anne Kinzel
AMES IA
akinzel@ames.net
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