Single-sex+schools+a+bad+idea+(yvelle)

= RAHS Note Page =

Source
http://www.seattlepi.com/opinion/72254_helen29.shtml

Summary/Direct Quote
WASHINGTON -- Women have to compete with men in today's world, and the public schools are a good place to start. Now, after decades of helping females advance toward equality, the government is going the other way. The Department of Education issued a notice May 8 inviting public comment for 60 days on a proposed revision of regulations that would allow federal funding for single-sex schools. The revision follows a little-noticed amendment to the education bill passed by Congress last year and signed by President Bush. It says school districts may receive funding for single-sex schools and classes if comparable courses and facilities are available for boys and girls and if the same amount of money is provided for each gender. Any way you look at it, the proposed revision violates the spirit of the 30-year-old Title IX law that bars public school districts from discriminating against any student on the basis of sex. Of course, elitist single-sex colleges produce high-caliber graduates. But the issue here is the quality of education for youngsters in public schools all over the country. The whole point of the Supreme Court's 1954 school desegregation decision outlawing so-called "separate but equal" schools was to end the fiction that separate can ever be equal. This new effort to revive such schools is really sad. Since Title IX became law, women have overcome the education gap with men in college. In fact, they now make up the majority of students in higher education, and more women than men receive graduate degrees. Women are entering business, law and other professional schools in record numbers. What we should do now is move forward as an integrated society, not step backward in time by segregating the sexes.

Connected Topics/Uses
In 2002, Congress passed an education bill that was signed by President Bush agreeing on single-sex classes with full funding. This goes against the Title IX law from 30 years ago when they said it's wrong to discriminate against sexes. The reason they made this law was to treat everyone equally in classes. Since the law has passed, women have had opportunities to shine. With the new single sex education bill, equality will not be achieved.