Single-Sex Education

aka Sex-Segregated Schools

Visiting Capitol Hill in Celebration of 40 Years of Title IX

By Galen Sherwin, ACLU Women's Rights Project & Amy L. Katz, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 3:02pm

Forty years ago, we would have been rarities, women lawyers. Congresswoman Gwen Moore would have been a greater rarity: an African American female member of the House of Representatives. Yesterday we were on Capitol Hill to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a law that helped make our careers possible: Title IX.

We attended a panel briefing, hosted by the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education and Rep. Moore in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX and the launch of a new NCWGE report. Although Title IX is best known for its impact on increasing participation by women and girls in athletics, the report and the panel covered several of the less well-known applications of the landmark law, including career and technical education (CTE), science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), sexual harassment, the rights of pregnant and parenting students to complete their education, and single-sex education.

Teach Kids Not Stereotypes

By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 10:23am

Today, we are sending demand letters to school districts in Florida, Maine, Virginia, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama insisting that they take steps to end single-sex programs that rely on and promote archaic and harmful sex stereotypes, and we’re launching a new campaign called Teach Kids, Not Stereotypes to drive the point home. 

The Young Women Who Taught Lane Tech a Lesson

In defiance of its male students, Chicago's Lane Technical High School decided to admit girls in 1971. The author was among the first class of freshman girls to enter that fall.

Single-Sex Education Will Not "Save" Minority Boys

By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 1:24pm

Imagine you’re a principal confronted with these facts: according to a 2010 report, the dropout rates for Black and Latino males are well above 50 percent in most cities, and Black and Latino males are less likely than any other demographic to enroll in or graduate from college. What do you do? A) throw your hands up in disgust and frustration; B) institute single-sex classes; or C) research what actually works in improving student performance?

Madison School Board Rejects Sex Segregated School

By Galen Sherwin, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 10:13am

Early Tuesday morning in Wisconsin, the Madison School Board voted 5-2 against a proposal to start a charter school that would have segregated students on the basis of sex, relying on a model of “gender specific” instruction.  The vote marked the culmination of a year-long advocacy campaign in which ACLU-WI collaborated closely with numerous allies.  

Turning the Tide Against Unlawful Sex Segregation in Public Schools

By Mie Lewis, Women's Rights Project at 12:32pm

In recent years, the number of public schools segregating their students by sex has ballooned, despite mounting evidence that single-sex programs don’t improve academic performance and instead perpetuate sex stereotypes. But things are changing. This week, yet another school district — this time in Tallapoosa County, Alabama — agreed to stop segregating its 350 middle school students by sex. The development in Alabama follows a string of similar turnarounds by school districts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Louisiana.

Following ACLU Demands Pittsburgh Ditches Single-Sex School Plans

By Sara Rose, ACLU of Pennsylvania , ACLU of Pennsylvania & Sue Frietsche, Women's Law Project at 4:00pm

This week, the Pittsburgh Public School District agreed to drop sex-segregated classes at Westinghouse, a grades 6-12 public school, after the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Women’s Law Project, and the ACLU Women’s Rights Project threatened to file a complaint with the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Same Gender Education a Gimmick

By Ronald E. Jackson, Executive Director, Citizens for Better Schools at 11:30am

Here in Alabama and across the South, our public schools — and the children who attend them — are under continuous assault. Cuts in state funding, school closings and increases in school and class sizes are just some of the ways the quality of education for our youngsters is undercut.

The fact that many of these decisions are made locally should not be misunderstood to mean they're made democratically. In reality, it's often the opposite: School officials agree on plans in private meetings, pre-meetings, and closed-door sessions. By the time a proposal reaches a public meeting, it's often a done deal. Parents and other community members frequently have little chance of influencing school decisions.

ACLU Lens: Sex-Segregated Education Will Not Cure Our Ailing Schools

By Robyn Shepherd, ACLU at 4:47pm

Galen Sherwin of the ACLU Women's Rights Project was recently featured in the New York Times' Online Room for Debate discussing the drawbacks to sex-segregated education in public schools. Galen's essay was one of seven featured in the debate, which included educators and legal experts from both sides of the issue.

Experimenting with Sex Segregation in the Classroom? Not with My Girls

By Jane Doe at 4:39pm

Yesterday, the ACLU settled a lawsuit challenging sex segregation of a public middle school in Kaplan, Louisiana. Facing a wave of recent victories in the litigation, the School Board agreed to stop all sex segregation across the entire school district for the next six to eight years.

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