Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/458422
P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y S C O T T B U S C H M A N the outfield, which they had to share with PE classes and the freshman football team. There were other dispar- ities: The girls had a locker room with broken toilets and showers, while the boys had access to a PE locker room and two private locker rooms. The girls were not allowed to use the weight room. The b oy s a l s o h a d t h r e e t e a m l e v e l s f o r m a n y s p o r t s — freshman, junior varsity and varsity — and girls only had two, despite female athletes who were cut during tryouts. In a settlement, the city a n d s c h o o l d i s t r i c t w e r e forced to build two new soft- ball fields for girls with the same amenities as the boys' b a s e b a l l d i a m o n d s . O t h e r c h a n g e s i n c l u d e d a n e w sophomore girls' basketball team, a freshman-sophomore softball team, and a new coed weight room and locker room. In 2013 the school was ruled to be in compliance with Title IX, and the court ended oversight of the school. "It helped girls' sports all around in terms of equality and the number of female players," says Eileen Kaiser, head of the high school's PE department. "It really encouraged girls to go out for sports." Yet victory was bittersweet, recalls Kaiser, Alhambra Teachers Association. A male teacher who worked hard to build the new baseball fields was blamed for hurting girls' sports when that was not his intention, she says. "I'm not saying it wasn't a good thing for girls, but I felt bad for him," says Kaiser. "We all saw the inequity between boys' and girls' sports, but to blame it on one coach and baseball in particular was unjust." Does equity for girls hurt boys? Alhambra was able to resolve the problem by expanding girls' facilities and programs without cutting those for boys. But sometimes schools choose to cut funding for boys' sports programs to comply with Title IX, which causes resentment among students and faculty. S I N C E T I T L E I X , numerous doors have opened for girls and women. Among the changes: • Before Title IX, only 1 in 28 girls played varsity high school sports. By 2001, that figure increased to 1 in 2.5, for a total of 2.8 million girls. • Before Title IX, women weren't awarded athletic scholarships. By 2003, there was more than $1 million in scholarships for women at Division I schools. • In 1970, women earned only 13.3 percent of doctoral degrees. By 2000, nearly half of doctoral degrees were awarded to women. • Before Title IX, girls were sometimes steered away from higher-level classes in math and science. High school girls now take upper-level math and science courses required at the same rate as boys. • Increased participation in sports has increased self-confidence in girls, according to the Women's Sports Foundation, and females playing sports are less likely to smoke, drink, use drugs or have unwanted pregnancies. • In colleges, Title IX has led to a higher number of female faculty members, especially at the lecturer, instructor and assistant professor levels. How Title IX has improved lives of females There is no part of Title IX that requires schools to cut funding for boys' programs to fund programs for girls; the only requirement is to ensure equality for both sexes. But sometimes it happens, which was highly publicized a few years ago at UC Berkeley. It is a "myth" that Title IX h u r t s m e n ' s s p o r t s t o h e l p women, according to the Wom- en's Sports Foundation. Some schools would rather blame Title IX than blame football — which gets the majority of funding for boys' athletics — when bud- gets are tight. In reality, the number of male athletes nationwide has grown tremendously, and boys' programs such as wrestling and lacrosse are sacri- ficed for football and basketball, which typically take up nearly 80 percent of men's sports budgets. It's a balancing act, says LaFever, who plays a role in Title IX athletics compliance at CSU Bakersfield. Fo r e x a m p l e , w h e n s a n d v o l l e y b a l l w a s a d d e d t o women's sports for Title IX compliance, men's ten- nis was eliminated. But compliance is about much more than sports, he adds. It's also about making academic and intel - lectual opportunities available to students and staff to better society. Kenyatta Scott, United Educators of San Francisco, agrees that Title IX is about making sure all students receive what they're entitled to on the playing field or in the classroom. "I would like for the world to adopt Title IX," says Roy LaFever, with Amanda Nesbit. 40 www.cta.org Feature