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Give Girls a Fair Chance in School Sports!

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Sponsor: The Child Health Site

Girls still have fewer opportunities than boys to participate in school sports. It's time to level the playing field!

Girls still have fewer opportunities than boys to participate in school sports. It's time to level the playing field!

Even with the monumental advancements we've made in women's equality, girls across the country still aren't getting treated equally in school sports1.

Title IX requires high schools to provide girls with equal opportunities and services2, but girls continue to receive only 41% of all athletic participation opportunities — 1.3 million fewer than male athletes3. They've been shown to receive inferior coaching, equipment, facilities and scheduling as well4, all potential violations of Title IX.

"We still estimate that the majority of schools are likely out of compliance with the law," said Sarah Axelson, vice president of advocacy at the Women's Sports Foundation1.

Passing the High School Data Transparency Act (H.R. 455 and S. 217)5 would go a long way toward leveling the playing field by requiring U.S. schools make their athletic program data public. Elementary and high schools should be required to provide these statistics so that parents and students can hold their communities accountable.

Sign the petition and ask the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons by passing the High School Data Transparency Act!

More on this issue:

  1. Jacob Richman and Alexandra Gopin, Capital News Service (April 2022), "Title IX has not meant equality for high school girls sports."
  2. U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (10 January 2020), "Requirements Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972."
  3. Alex Azzi, NBC Sports (4 May 2022), "Fifty years after Title IX, girls and women in sport still have fewer opportunities."
  4. National Women's Law Center (March 2011), "The Battle For Gender Equity In Athletics In Elementary And Secondary Schools."
  5. Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter, 113th Congress (4 February 2013), "H.R.455 - High School Data Transparency Act of 2013."
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The Petition:

To the Secretary of Health and Human Services,

I am sure you're aware of the positive role sports play in a child's life. Being part of a team, learning to deal with wins and losses, and keeping the body fit and healthy are all experiences that help shape a developing mind. Participation in sports provides children with invaluable lifelong skills that keep them out of trouble and focused on positive goals.

Despite the encouraging changes we have made to help women obtain the same opportunities as men, I am concerned that females still do not receive the same treatment when it comes to school sports. Reports have shown that girls continue to receive only 41 percent of all athletic participation opportunities — 1.3 million fewer than male athletes.

Though Title IX restricts anyone from discrimination on the basis of gender, it does not require elementary and secondary schools to make athletic department funding and participation data public. We need to hold schools accountable to ensure equality is being achieved. Without tangible data, we cannot begin to address this problem.

Please support the High School Data Transparency Acts, H.R. 455 and S. 217, to give our daughters the same opportunities to benefit from sports as our sons.

Sincerely,

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Signatures: