Pros And Cons Of Title IX

Title XI and it effect on athletic programs

The purpose of Title IX was to create equal opportunities for both male and female students. The amendment really affected mostly women. They were poorly represented in college athletics over the last 30 years. The Title IX legislation has been a very controversial subject. Many people are opposed to the idea that women program should be equal to males athletic programs. I truly believe that the program is bias and totally unfair. During this paper I will discuss the history of Title IX, the advantages and disadvantages of Title XI, the effects of college and high school programs and the profit obtained from the use of Title IX funds. The Title IX legislation was first implemented
in 1972. It stated that “ No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any programs or activity receiving federal financial assistance. This information was the preamble to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The success of Title IX shows up in many others ways not captured by the often quoted proportionality numbers. Title IX does not have a quota system, nor does it require exact proportionally of money and numbers of sports. One of the most harmful unintended consequences of Title IX has never been about limiting participation: it has been primarily about expanding opportunities. Title IX allows schools to decide what teams they will offer, both men’s and women’s. Title IX statue experienced a major transformation when the law had become a part of the education amendment: Title 20 U.S.C, Sections 1681-1688. As Title IX ensures legal protection against sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace and school grounds, this law also played a major role in high school and intercollegiate sports (Valentine, 1997). The effects of Title IX has caused the women’s varsity teams to spring up in virtually every college and all programs that were initially underfunded must receive the same consideration for funding as the men sports. The process is not welcome by are patrons. Some think that the law is not fair to the school that makes most of their revenue from male sporting events. Many sacrifices have occurred because of the provisions located in the law. According to Garber, before the passage of the Title IX statue many women were discriminated against. There were fewer that 300,000 females participated in high school athletics. The statistic of one in twenty seven had the opportunity to participate. There were numerous cases where prominent figures were denied admission to their university of choice because of a state law that prohibited women from entering that school. There were other incidents that denied women access to financial aid, graduate programs, such as computer engineering, medical and law. Some women were forced to have a higher score than their counterpart before they were allowed entrance into the university. It was obvious that women received fifty percent less scholarship than men (Johnson 2002). Historically, athletic playing fields have been the proving grounds for several cultural changes in the United States professional Baseball, for instance, shattered the accepted racial segregation of the period. Title IX has likewise disrupted the gender norms of our day. Supporting the letter and spirit of Title IX has made life better at our institution for both women and men. One measure of success is that we have more women and men student athletes than ever before. And they admire and support each other. Different teams within the school show pride by cheering on the other sports no matter if it a male team or a female team. Title IX is still maturing and will continue to do so. It will continue to grow and many lives will be change because of this program. There are still problems that must be corrected to ensure the success continues. Athletic programs with disproportionate participation number can still comply with Title IX as long as other measures of equity---progress and interest are present.
Many schools that have a football program have problems ensuring that the exact number of males and females athletes is available.
Regardless of the situation, they must make sure the same amount of money is allocated for both groups. Some school go out the way to make sure things as small as having same amount of practice time for male and female athletes are equal. There are a lot of details that go into the planning of different event to ensure that most things are equally distributed across the board. The process is important so school don’t violate the Title IX law. The belief that Title IX hurts men’s sports oversimplifies a very complex situation. Schools with limited resources cut sports for many different reasons. The gender equity is just one factor in those decisions. Media continues to focus on eliminating of wrestling at high- visibility universities even though; nationwide, wrestling numbers are increasing. There has been an increased in male participation in college athletes since the Title IX began. The bottom-line is that schools can maintain athletic teams if they are willing to allocate smaller budgets to the teams. Many schools are willing to allocate resources so that more students can be a part of the sports program. It is great when schools want to do the right thing but there are people out there that think Title IX is a great program for helping the female athlete, but have a devastating effect on men sports. According to Foley, the program(Title IX) has transformed into having the reverse effect on men’s sports, which have experienced budget cuts or have had their programs eliminated altogether. According to Washington post.com, since 1972 women athletic programs have grown exponentially, from less than 30,000 NCAA female athletes to almost 151,000 in 2000. Many coaches, supporters and equality activists believe that this program has forced universities and secondary schools to provide women and men the same opportunities. However;
Foley argues that Title IX has achieved it intended goals and is no longer necessary. Women sports have grown exponentially, say Foley, to a point where women no longer need the assistance provided by Title IX. It has been documented that Title IX continues to hurt men’s sports. Programs are being cut and budget eliminated on a routine basis but there are two side to every story. Title IX is far from flawless, as many under-funded male athletes will attest to. The program has transformed into having the reverse effect on men’s sports, which have experienced cuts. Now that the women sports have made giants strives, there are people that believe that the law is no longer needed and should be eliminated. Men teams have certainly noticed the injustice by this law and decided to bring about a lawsuit protesting the significant amount of wrestling programs cut to comply with equality figures stated by Title IX. This along with many other complaints caused the Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige to establish a commission to review the current Title IX practices and to possibly dilute the strength of this contradictory law according to cnn.com. The Washingtonpost.com confirmed that there were three suggestion made to change the Title IX law. One suggestion was to allow campus surveys to gauge students interest, and to establish program based on results. The most controversial change would allow for as little as 43 percent of the varsity slots to be allocated for females, despites the percentages of female students being higher than that. Many people believe that the proposal would be a step back but it would provide equality instead of a growing preference toward women’s sports, an unnatural partiality mandated by law instead of real interest. According to cnn.com, the suggestion raised by the commission head in the right direction… by adopting a more relaxed attitude toward Title IX enforcement

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any programs or activity receiving federal financial assistance.—From the preamble to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972"
Title IX is a section of the Educational Amendments passed by Congress in 1972. Title IX prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally funded education, including athletic programs. It was passed in 1972 with little controversy. However, soon after the NCAA and high school administrators complained that boy’s sports would suffer if women’s sports became equally funded. Two years later regulations to implement the law were released but not put into effect until July 1975.
Under Presidents Reagan and Bush, enforcement of Title IX came to a halt. Then in a 1984 decision, Grove City v. Bell, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted Title IX saying that it did not cover entire educational institutions, only those that received federal funding. Four years later Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988; this nullified the effects of the Grove City ruling by outlawing sex discrimination throughout an entire educational institution receiving federal funds. Now in collegiate athletics, there are three primary areas that determine if an institution is in compliance with Title IX.