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Background on Gender Equity in Public School Competitive Athletics

Federal Title IX and California's Sex Equity in Education Act both include provisions which prohibit public schools from discriminating against students, based on gender, in the area of athletics. In determining compliance with Title IX and the Sex Equity in Education Act, one of the elements that is considered is "whether the selection of sports and levels of competition effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of members of both sexes."

To evaluate whether this element is being met, the following factors are examined (l) whether participating opportunities provided to male and female students are provided in numbers substantially proportionate to their respective enrollment; (2) whether the school has a history and continuing practice of expanding its program in response to developing interest and abilities among members of that gender; and (3) whether the school has fully and effectively accommodated the interests and abilities of the gender."

Education Code Section 221.9

Background

Education Code section 221.9 was added by Senate Bill 1349 and became effective for the 2015-16 school year. The legislative background for Senate Bill 1349 indicates it was written to address the factors listed above.

Requirements

Education Code section 221.9 requires "each public elementary and secondary school ... including each charter school, that offers competitive athletics" to make the information below available on the school's website at the end of every school year.

"Competitive athletics" is defined as "sports where the activity has coaches, a governing organization, and practices, and competes during a defined season, and has competition as its primary goal. "