Time for a Change

by David Portney

I posted an article on our social media sites yesterday about how the U.S. Department of Education is being sued by the American Sports Counsel over the use of Title IX's three-part compliance test in high schools, arguing that this type of enforcement violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

You can find the article here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_in_sports/2011/07/group_sues_dept_of_ed_over_use_of_title_ixs_three-part_test_in_high_schools.html

Before I go any further, I want to say that I am by no means a Title IX expert, but I don't think a whole lot of us are, and it's better to have the conversation than not have it at all.

As a former high school male athlete I can tell you this, there was a lot of animosity over Title IX because in the world of male athletes because it was viewed as something that denied males the right to play other sports and not much more than that. Granted, we've all become much smarter over the years, but I think to a degree that feeling still exists in the male dominated sport world.

I'm not going to go over all of Title IX intricacies, it's all over the internet if you're interested, but this lawsuit does once again give the Title IX supporters the task of reiterating the fact that cutting male sports is not the goal. It's not pro-female sports it's pro gender equality. Ideally, instead of cutting male sports to meet Title IX demands, schools would add female sports. But I think we all know at this point it's not quite as simple as that.

Since 1972, females have been given numerous opportunities to compete in athletics. Pre-1972, few females were given the right to participate in athletics and something needed to be done to change that. But 29 years later, maybe it's time for a change. Now that females have experienced more mainstream success in athletics, Title IX should be re-evaluated to accommodate the situation in 2011. As far as what that is exactly I'm not too sure, but we have to be able to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of athletics. If we don't, then whatever progress this country has made in that respect is in danger of regressing.