(Washington, DC) — The Independent Women’s Forum applauds the proposal by the U.S. Department of Education to ease restrictions on public, same-sex education, providing parents greater school choice.
“Parents should have options when it comes to where their children attend school,” says Carrie Lukas, director of policy at the Independent Women’s Forum. “This is an important step forward in moving away from the one-size-fits-all, government-run public schools, and giving parents real choice.”
Currently, public same-sex schools or classes are prohibited except in certain cases, as in sex education or gym classes. But proposed changes to Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools, would allow these classes or schools to exist, as long as “substantially equal” opportunities are available to the excluded sex.
“It is ironic that the groups like the National Organization for Women are complaining about measures to give parents greater control of their children’s education and more options,” Lukas added. “Certainly women’s groups recognize the benefits of women-only private colleges like Smith and Wellesley. Do they believe that only wealthy parents able to pay private school tuition deserve these options? I am glad that the administration has recognized that all should have choice when it comes to schools for their children.”
The regulations are open for a comment period of 45 days, after which they could be finalized within a few months.