Did you know that Title IX applies to high school sports as well as college sports?
The complexities of Title IX make it a poorly understood program. So, in honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day (February 6), today’s WatchBlog answers some common questions about Title IX in the context of high school sports and examines some of our recent work on this subject.
Q: What is Title IX anyway?
A: Enacted in 1972, Title IX is a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity receiving federal funds, including those in public high schools.
Q: Does Title IX require schools to have an equal number of girls’ and boys’ sports teams?
A: Not exactly. Title IX regulations require schools to provide participation opportunities for girls and boys. This does not necessarily mean the same number of teams, since team sizes can vary. A school can demonstrate equality of opportunity for participation by thinking about participation in the context of enrollment: if half of a school’s students are girls, they would also make up about half of the sports participants.
Q: So how are schools doing on this measure?
A: We have examined data from the Department of Education (Education) for the 2013-2014 school year (the most recent available when we conducted this work), and found that girls made up 49% of students in public high schools that offer sports and 43% of sports participants in these schools.
Q: I also heard that Title IX requires schools to spend the same amount on girls’ and boys’ teams. Is it true?
A: It’s complicated. Title IX demands equality treatment-in terms of things ranging from equipment and uniforms to coaching and travel opportunities—in all girls’ and boys’ teams, without necessarily spending.
Q: Okay, but what about sports promotion club spending?
A: Booster club spending also counts. Schools cannot accept funds or other contributions that create disparities between girls and boys.
Q: What are public high schools doing to ensure equal treatment?
A: We investigated Public high school athletic administrators and most reported that over the past two years their school had evaluated aspects of their treatment of girls’ and boys’ teams to encourage fairness (the more often, uniforms and facilities). Additionally, about 40% of schools surveyed students’ interests in different sports, for example to see if they could add a sport that would interest girls more. About 25% made changes based on requests from the sex with the lowest participation rate.
Q: Were schools that did not take steps to provide equal opportunity noncompliant with Title IX?
A: Not necessarily. When Education investigates Title IX complaints, it considers many equal opportunity elements as well as the specific circumstances of the school.
Q: Who can ensure schools meet Title IX requirements?
A: Education requires all public school districts to have a Title IX coordinator and states in its guidelines that this person must work closely with (among others) athletic administrators. But about 51% of athletic administrators said they were unaware of or unsupported by their Title IX coordinator. Since Education has already issued guidance for Title IX coordinators, we recommended that it examines coordinators’ knowledge and use of guidance, and uses this information to strengthen future work encouraging coordinators to work with athletics administrators.
To learn more about our work on Title IX and high school sports, visit GAO-17-754R And GAO-18-425.
Comments on the GAO WatchBlog? Contact [email protected].
