WASHINGTON, DC — The Independent Women’s Forum denounces today’s Supreme Court ruling in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education. The Independent Women’s Forum filed an amicus brief urging the Court to reject the notion that public school boards are liable for the misbehavior of individual students under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
“Holding local school boards liable for so-called sexual harassment on the playground is bad for education, bad for parents and taxpayers, and one of the worst message we could possibly send to children themselves,” said Anita K. Blair, President of the Independent Women’s Forum.
Jennifer Braceras, IWF National Advisory Board Member and author of IWF’s amicus brief in the case agrees. “We are dismayed that five members of the Supreme Court agree with Feminist special interest groups who argued that the Monroe County Board of Education should be held financially liable for ‘sexual harassment,’ despite the fact that no teacher or other school employee participated in, or condoned, the alleged student misconduct,” stated Braceras.
“School children will now learn that the federal government is the ever present regulator of behavior,” stated Kimberly Schuld, Director of the IWF Play Fair project. “No longer will kids learn to deal with each other and be responsible for their actions. They can instead go straight to federal court.”
The Independent Women’s Forum is a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded by women to foster public education about legal, social, and economic policies and to promote individual responsibility, limited government, and economic opportunity.