Equality in High School Athletics

Welp, it's pretty obvious that blogging consistently since my class ended has been a challenge. That goes without saying considering there has not been a post since December.

Nonetheless here is a new post encouraged by a friend and fellow blogger.

I have blogged about Title IX before, but yesterday there was some action in the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee or (HELP) for short that I got excited about. With a 13-9 vote, an amendment to include the High School Data Transparency Act (refer to S. 217 or H.R. 455) to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or (ESEA) for short was passed! This piece of legislation  (High School Data Transparency Bill ) will require schools to report standard information about male and female athletes and how much money is spent for each sports team. This is a great way for schools to be held accountable for their sports teams and the funding each program receives. Here's a link to the United States Legislative Information website with the bills language: http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/217?q=S.+217. 

A great website that reports and advocates for women's sports, The Women's Sports Foundation as well as The SHE Network connected to The Women's Sports Foundation both share great information regarding the happenings of this legislation in Washington. The National Women's Law Center produced a great fact sheet addressing some facts and myths about the High School Data Transparency Bill and here is a sneak peek at one of the myths discussed...

MYTH 3: The information required to be collected by the High School Data Transparency
Bills serves no useful purpose. 
FACT 3: The High School Data Transparency Bills shine a spotlight on the athletic opportunities that schools provide to girls and boys, which will help ensure that all students are being treated fairly in school athletic programs. In states like Georgia and Kentucky, newspapers collected and published data identical to that required by the bills(by requesting it under open records laws). The information revealed a lack of opportunities for girls in sports, which fueled the creation of state laws and policies requiring schools to disclose information about their athletic programs and providing incentives for compliance. While a federal law requires colleges to publicly report such information each year, high schools are not covered by the law, 
making it difficult for communities to determine whether their school athletic programs are treating girls 
and boys fairly.
Take a look at the full article here: http://www.nwlc.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/2013_1_31_hs_transparency_bills_mythsfacts.pdf. 

Here is a link to the SHE Network article about the amendment: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/she-network/education/amendment-adding-the-high-school-data-transparency-act-to-esea-reauthorization-passed.

You may be wondering why does it matter? Or doesn't Title IX already take care of this issue? The answer is no. Schools nationwide are still not providing females with the same opportunities as males. As an athlete and female who went to a high school where there was/ is a difference in male and female athletic programs particularly in the area of softball and baseball, it matters to me. I may not be in high school anymore or directly involved in high school athletics, but it still matters. Equal opportunity matters. Being treated fairly and funded equally is important. Males and females are should be valued equally and the students and athletes need to know that. A high school girls softball team/program should not feel less than the guys baseball team/program ever.

My hope is this legislation does make an impact and similar bills and amendments are passed in the future to not put down a genders sports program but to ensure equality for both. 

The National Women's Law Center gives website viewers the easy opportunity to contact your Members of Congress to let your voice heard. As stated on their website at the top of the form it reads:

Tell Congress: Make Sure Girls Get a Fair Chance in Sports

Did you know that high schools are not required to make information about their sports programs publicly available? We are talking about the basics, such as how many girls and boys are playing and how much is being spent. So if parents, teachers or coaches are concerned that their high schools are not giving girls equal opportunities to play sports, they have to just figure it out on their own. That’s why high schools, like colleges, should be required to make information about their sports programs publicly available. 

Girls across the country are still not getting equal opportunities to play sports or equal treatment when they do play. High schools provide girls with 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play sports as compared to boys. And girls often are assigned inferior facilities and game times, among other things. To make matters worse, when parents and students try to find out how their schools are allocating valuable athletic opportunities and resources, they are not able to get information. 
Source- https://secure2.convio.net/nwlc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=739

Know that every action matters even when some think it doesn't. So visit the link above and add your voice!
I'll stop there for now. I am sure more will pop up later...

Thanks for reading- happy thoughts!