So tired of hearing "it's not fair" from other parents

[riseball]

Most of the time, the school administration is unaware of the problem and the law. You write them a letter informing them of the disparity and ask them to correct it. If they don't, you file a Title IX complaint.

The situation we had was a softball field without dugouts or a fence. It was basically just a backstop in the middle of a field. The baseball field, of course, had the whole works. We asked them to fix the issue. They refused. We filed the complaint with the Office of Civil rights, and the school made the fields comparable.

The most fun I had was over a soccer program. The school district had a co-ed soccer team, which always had 15 players, with three of the slots allocated for girls. It didn't matter how good the girls were. They had about five team pictures in the trophy case...always three girls--no more, no less.

The school district said this was not discriminatory. Six months later, the school district had a boys soccer team and a girls soccer team for every middle school in the district.

I could not let my DDs be treated as second class citizens.

MsDinosaur...why do you let the conditions exist?

I would add that a request via the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) is also useful. Once in the face of some perceived inequities a well timed FOIA request to the AD gave him a hint that he was headed for trouble and the situation was quickly rectified.

In my home state of Florida even the notes taken by coaches at tryouts, score sheets, and even email is subject to FOIA/Sunshine Laws. This can be a very powerful tool.

To Sluggers point the mere mention of Title IX and a request for a meeting to discuss compliance will send school administrators scurrying like cockroaches in the light of day.

 

[BobInMadison]

I will try very hard to avoid politics in this post. It may involve a certain amount of dancing around.

In any case, for a number of years, the softball facilities the 2 high schools on the west side of Madison use have been vastly inferior to the baseball facilities. At least for softball they put up a port-a-potty recently. There are some metal stands.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the baseball field has lights and a score board. Softball has neither. At least the varsity field has a fence. JV, not so much. Freshman or JV2 teams play at a nearby middle school, which has no stands, no fence, but has a nice hill to sit on and watch the game (one of the TB teams used that for home games this summer).

The batting cages? Right by the baseball fields, a bit of a hike from the softball fields. Bullpens? Baseball only.

The softball fields are run by the school district and the West Madison Little League, which uses the softball fields for its spring/summer softball games. Clearly inferior to what the LL boys have, as well.

The LL is trying to raise a lot of money. A small part of it will go to improving the softball fields, IF the school district improves.

So, why don't I complain or file suit?

First reason, my DD #1 didn't play softball last year, so I wouldn't have standing in a suit until either she returns to softball, or else DD #3 gets to HS (assuming we are still in Madison, which is unlikely).

Big reason? In 2011 the school budgets for the entire state were greatly slashed. Only Alabama had its school budget slashed deeper. At one point, the AD for the local HS was threatening to cancel every sport except basketball. Madison Memorial HS has a real powerhouse of a boys' basketball team, and that is the ONLY sport that makes a profit. Even football costs more than the gate fees.

So, I am afraid that if someone raised a fuss about Title IX, the response would be to kill both baseball and softball. That would fit in with Title IX, but would be a huge step backwards.

If one wants to do a search as to the two candidates for governor, one might see as how school funding igets too close to politics for me to discuss my opinions on the matter.

 

[Greenmonsters]

It took a a Title IX suit when my DD was in 6th grade to get her HS SB field "skinned". Even now 10 years later, I'm not sure that the HS AD knows that SB isn't supposed to be played on a grass IF.

 

[Greenmonsters]

....If one wants to do a search as to the two candidates for governor, one might see as how school funding igets too close to politics for me to discuss my opinions on the matter.

I didn't search, but I'm guessing that the candidates are on opposite sides of the "No Child Left On-Base" issue?

 

[MsDinosaur]

MsDinosaur...why do you let the conditions exist?

I did send an email to the superintendent of the district about the locker room situation and mentioned Title IX. He responded promptly that there were unassigned lockers available for both boy and girls and that the athletic director would work with the coach to get lockers assigned in the existing locker rooms. He also said the AD will work with the coaching staff and PE staff to review existing space and use of that space to address future needs and provide him with the suggestions that come from that.

Since my daughter's just starting her freshman year, I don't want to potentially poison the well for her, either athletically or academically, by going further.

 

[Softball scholar]

Also, the law has three prongs, and one of them is having athletics that represent the interests of the students, so canceling a popular sport to get in compliance goes against the law if indeed the students have proven interest in the sport.

At the college level, this has been the largest drawbacks of Title IX. Countless mens sports programs have dropped to bring colleges in compliance with the proportionality and quota requirements of the law.

 

[MsDinosaur]

At the college level, this has been the largest drawbacks of Title IX. Countless mens sports programs have dropped to bring colleges in compliance with the proportionality and quota requirements of the law.

My feeling has always been that the proportionality and quota requirements should apply to mens and womens sports OTHER than football. There's no way to be fair to other sports with football in the mix--it's the proverbial 800-lb gorilla which is hugely lucrative and requires a small army of players. There is no womens sport that remotely compares to its manpower demands.

It is, however, fair IMO to tally up a school's non-football sports and say, for example, "Ok, you have x many men in swimming, track, soccer, gymnastics, wrestling, baseball, basketball, tennis, golf and lacrosse, so you must provide a proportional number of slots in womens sports.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Somtimes, these rules, hurt more than they help. Saw on the local news a school dropped it's baseball and softball program due to someone filling a complaint about the girls not getting equal facilities. BB had a field at the school for over 20 years, there is no room on campus for a softball field, softball uses a city field only 5 miles away. Now there are 50 or so kids with no chance at playing a sport.

Sometimes I think we should take these rules on a case by case basis, instead of a "one size fits all". Reminds me of the kid who got suspended for eating his sandwich in the shape of a gun. That big thing on our shoulders is a brain, we need to use it more often.

 

[BobInMadison]

Somtimes, these rules, hurt more than they help. Saw on the local news a school dropped it's baseball and softball program due to someone filling a complaint about the girls not getting equal facilities. BB had a field at the school for over 20 years, there is no room on campus for a softball field, softball uses a city field only 5 miles away. Now there are 50 or so kids with no chance at playing a sport.

Sometimes I think we should take these rules on a case by case basis, instead of a "one size fits all". Reminds me of the kid who got suspended for eating his sandwich in the shape of a gun. That big thing on our shoulders is a brain, we need to use it more often.

I think this is exactly the reason why nobody is filing complaints about the softball fields. The girls can suck it up and play on a field with no scoreboard and no lights, rather than ending BB and SB for everybody in the two high schools that share the facilities.

 

[riseball]

Somtimes, these rules, hurt more than they help. Saw on the local news a school dropped it's baseball and softball program due to someone filling a complaint about the girls not getting equal facilities. BB had a field at the school for over 20 years, there is no room on campus for a softball field, softball uses a city field only 5 miles away. Now there are 50 or so kids with no chance at playing a sport.

Sometimes I think we should take these rules on a case by case basis, instead of a "one size fits all". Reminds me of the kid who got suspended for eating his sandwich in the shape of a gun. That big thing on our shoulders is a brain, we need to use it more often.

Title IX has its merits but like any legislation it is also a good example of the law of unintended consequences. Although it has significantly increased women’s participation in college sports, the percentage of female head coaches for women’s teams has fallen from 90% to about 40% since it was passed in 1972.