Throw the yellow flag on the National Women's Law Center

February 08, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Joshua Thompson

Today, PLF responded to twelve complaints filed by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) back in November.  The complaints were lodged with the Office of Civil Rights and alleged that twelve school districts were discriminating against girls, because the the "proportion" of girls in sports did not perfectly match the proportion of girls enrolled in the school districts. 

The complaints lack any legal basis.  The NWLC says that the school districts must comply with  "proportionality," because the Three-Part Test mandates such hard quotas on high schools.  The fundamental problem with this argument: the Three-Part Test doesn't even apply to high schools!  See for yourself.  Notice the title of that regulation: A Policy Interpretation: Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics.

The NWLC hopes to create the facade of equality through proportionality based quotas.  PLF is concerned with providing actual equality under the law.  Individuals should be treated equally under the law regardless of their race or sex. High schools should be concerned with providing sports based on interest, not bare enrollment numbers

I urge you to read PLF's response to the NWLC's complaints.  If the Three-Part Test and the quotas it requires get applied to high schools, all children, boys and girls, are sure to suffer from unequal treatment.

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