Austin (Texas) school officials have launched a survey to gauge support for a new public all-boys school. “The proposed Young Men’s Leadership Academy would be a college prep school offering advanced courses in communications, technology, math, and science,” according to the homeroom blog on the Austin American-Statesman Web site. Austin already plans to open the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders this fall.
Last fall, Education Week reported on new regulations from the U.S. Department of Education that stated definitively that it is legal to educate boys and girls separately under certain conditions. According to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, those new rules have significantly boosted interest in the option. According to the association, as of March 2007, at least 262 public schools in the United States offered gender-separate educational opportunities—in most cases, this meant providing single-gender classrooms within schools serving both boys and girls.