The U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights has found New York City public schools to be in violation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in any federally financed education program or activity, the National Women’s Law Center announced Tuesday.
The NWLC filed a complaint against the N.Y.C. school district—along with 11 other school districts—back in 2010, alleging the district had a significant gap between the percentage of student-athletes who were female and the percentage of overall students who were female. At the time, NWLC co-president Marcia Greenberger called the 12 districts “the tip of the iceberg,” noting that nationwide, “only 41 percent of all high school athletes are girls, even though they make up half the student population.”
To be in compliance with Title IX, schools and districts must satisfy at least one of three conditions:
- They must offer athletic participation opportunities to male and female athletes in proportion to their overall respective enrollments;
- They must show a history and continuing practice of expanding athletic programs for the underrepresented sex; or
- They must demonstrate that the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex have been fully and effectively accommodated.
According to