WASHINGTON, DC — The Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) applauds the House Education Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for conducting hearings on the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This long overdue hearing will question OCR’s policies and procedures for preventing discrimination.
In the area of athletics, the agency’s pursuit of a gender quota has led to the wholesale destruction of men’s athletic opportunities, a form of discrimination clearly at odds with Title IX, the federal law OCR claims to uphold.
“Under the guise of gender equity, this agency and its Director, Norma Cantu, have been forcing a gender quota onto school and university athletics departments, resulting in the decimation of men’s sports” said Kimberly Schuld, Director of the IWF’s Play Fair project. “Congress must put this agency under a microscope and examine its tactics and motives in pushing policies that clearly discriminate against men.”
The hearing will also address the OCR’s proposed rule change to standardized tests used in admissions and promotion of students. The new OCR guidelines for tests like the SAT would allow for a spate of federal lawsuits, and would effectively eliminate the ability of schools to develop clear indicators for successful academic performance.
On this latest attempt by OCR to discriminate, Anita Blair, President of IWF stated, “Tests such as the SAT are one of the only ways educators can identify properly prepared students regardless of race, ethnicity or gender. The differences in outcomes on tests reflect the woeful condition of our public schools. We should raise our academic standards before we throw out testing measures.”