The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

By Edith Schwede

Parents who are concerned with sex equity in the workplace and in the marketplace are well advised to learn how Title IX, properly implemented in the public schools, enhances their daughters' futures, in terms of admission to training programs of their choice, jobs of their choice, and their attitudes about themselves.

Title IX is that short statement from the Education Amendments Act of 1972 which mandatès that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex,. be excluded from participation in, be denied the

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benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

This simple statement is complex and difficult in interpretation and administration. Every aspect of education, from counseling to extracurricular activities, is subject to the regulations of Title IX.

Coming out of the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's, Title IX forces educational institutions to reform past discriminatory practices and policies in the treatment of female students and employees. It is also forbidden, of course, to discriminate against males, who have benefited from Title IX provisions. The intent of the law, however, was to correct policies and practices historically unchallenged which resulted in unfair and unequal treatment of females.

In the ninth year since the legislation was passed, many school systems are far from being in compliance with Title IX regulations. Some of the lag is due to resistance, some to confusion about the law. Many conditions are attached to the amendment, and subsequent court cases have resulted in rulings that

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add further conditions. Implementation of Title IX can be a thicket indeed. Nonetheless, there are cer⚫tain basic indicators of a school system's intent-to uphold the spirit of this important law.

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Parents who are involved in their children's education should begin by requesting a policy statement of compliance and nondiscrimination from the school district. Those institutions which are covered under Title IX are required to issue and distribute a policy statement. It is mandated that this document be distributed to all employees, students, parents of students, labor organizations, and all organizations that have contracts with the system. It should be publicized in local and student newspapers.' The policy should also be included in all documents such as job postings, program announcements and official reports of the system.

The school system is also responsible for designating a Title IX Coordinator and for setting up a grievance procedure. School systems covered under Title IX are required to evaluate themselves in a process that is outlined under the regulations. All applications for federal funds must be accompanied by an "assurance statement" from the school district.

The district is further responsible for training administrators and teachers toward the elimination of all sexism in the school setting.

Any parent, therefore, may expect to request and receive information about Title IX compliance from those at the local school who teach, counsel or in any other way serve the student.

Some observations parents might make when visiting their children's schools include the following:

1) Do the displays in the halls and classrooms reflect a non-sexist attitude? Are girls and boys portrayed in equal numbers? Are they portrayed in many different situations?

2) Do the plays and other programs reflect a nonsexist environment? Are they non-stereotypic? Do historical events portray women historical figures, and as many women as men?

3) In student leadership programs, are girls as well represented as boys? Do they have access to leadership roles in all segments of school life?

4) Do teachers assign classroom chores independent of sex? Do they give all students the opportunity to experience all kinds of chores?

5) Are your children receiving non-sexist, nonstereotypic guidance and counseling in their school program, college counseling, job counseling?

6) Is discipline in your school handled the same for boys and girls?

7) If your school has a dress code, are the regulations the same for boys as for girls? An example would be that if jeans are not allowed, the rule applies to both girls and boys.

Sexism in children's books is an expensive and

Victory for Abortion Rights

The D.C. Abortion Rights Coalition announced a major victory on September 22 when the U.S. House of Representatives passed the D.C. Appropriations Bill without considering an anti-abortion amendment. The amendment, which was expected to be introduced on the House floor, would have stopped the District from using local tax dollars to fund Medicaid abortions.

Under current legislation, the Hyde Act, federal funds may only be used to pay for Medicaid abortions in cases of life endangerment. The Supreme Court has ruled that states have the right to use local funds to pay for all other Medicaid abortions. Nine states, in addition to the District, have chosen to use local tax dollars to pay for abortions.

The D.C: Abortion Rights Coalition, consisting of

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40 organizations which joined together to fight for abortion rights and home rule in the District, conducted an intensive lobbying campaign against the amendment.

"This is a tremendous victory for abortion rights and home rule in the District," said Leslie Harris, Chairperson of the Coalition and Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area. "Our success shows how effec-. tive citizens can be when they join together to fight for a cause".

The D.C. Appropriations Bill will now be con..sidered by the U.S: Senate. Harris said she is "very.

confident" that the bill will also pass the Senate without introduction of an anti-abortion amendment.

thorny issue for school systems. Parents should examine the reading material which the school is using in its curricula. There are several key indicators in children books...

1) In illustrations, look for stereotypes: wicked stepmothers, women seen only as doting mothers, girls always with dolls, fewer females than males, females always in a passive role, etc.

2) Story lines often carry covert messages, such as success comes to aggressive white males, or girls need boys to solve their problems, or girls behave to please boys, etc. A rule of thumb is to ask yourself if the sex of the characters could be reversed without changing the outcome of the story.

3) Look at the lifestyles of the characters: Are there working mothers, females in hardhats, norms of other than white middle-class suburbia?

4) Analyze the relationships. Do men always have the power? Do women make important decisions? Do males and females support and cooperate?

5) Ask yourself: Do the central characters enhance .or hinder my child's own image of himself or herself? (continued on page 11)

Women Oppose RTL

By Barbara Winslow

Over 1,000 reproductive rights activists marched in Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, September 28 to protest the state-wide meeting and rally of the so-called "Right-to-Life" organization.

It was a beautifully sunny day as the demonstrators met in Cooper Park. The Cleveland Pro-

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Choice Action Committee, and the Cincinnati Alliance for Reproductive Rights set up tables and sold buttons and t-shirts. Members of the Dayton Freedom of Choice Coalition, who had called the march, were handing out blue and white balloons. The crowd kept getting larger and larger.

As we assembled to march, we could see that there were a lot of us. Contingents came from the Cleveland Pro-Choice Action Committee, Oberlin Pro-Choice, Kent Women's Organization, Cincinnati Reproductive Rights Alliance, reproductive rights groups from Canton and Akron, NARAL from various cities, including Yellow Springs, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, and Dykes for Abortion Rights. Political organizations such as the International Socialist Organization and the National Lawyers Guild also marched; the National Organization for Women had a number of city-wide con tingents as did religious organizations, women's .academic groups and student groups.

The demonstration was important for a number of reasons, most importantly to show people that the anti-abortionists.are indeed a (very immoral) minority. There were only 300 anti-abortionists attending the convention. Ohio is often seen as a testing area for the anti-abortion forces; a strong pro-choice response, such as happened September 28, necessary to defeat these reactionaries.

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