Copyright 2001 The Atlanta Constitution  
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
February 8, 2001 Thursday, Home Edition
SECTION: News; Pg. 1A

LENGTH: 513 words

HEADLINE: Jumping to meet gender equity;
School officials seek sports status for cheerleading

BYLINE: James Salzer

SOURCE: AJC

BODY:
Some school officials are asking the state Board of Education to give them an H, give them an E, give them an L, and give them a P in implementing a new gender equity law by allowing them to count cheerleading as a sport.

They say competitive cheerleading has gotten, well . . . very competitive.

"The cheerleading parents consider cheerleading a sport," argued Patrick Blenke, principal of Jefferson High School in Jefferson. "If a principal does not consider it a sport, that principal may be looking for another job."

But since most cheerleaders are girls, using those figures could make it appear as if schools are complying with the gender equity law even if they have more sports for boys.

"It pushes up their numbers," said Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta), one of the sponsors of the gender equity law enacted by the General Assembly last year. "I think the law's purpose was to expand opportunities to young women beyond what we're doing now."

The issue is being raised now because the state Board of Education is considering rules to implement the law. The board's rules committee held a public hearing Wednesday. Cathy Henson, the panel's chairwoman, said the proposed rule will have to undergo some major revisions. Among the issues the board will have to discuss, she said, is cheerleading.

The state law gives enforcement teeth to federal Title IX provisions that school sports opportunities offered to boys and girls must be comparable.

The Georgia law also requires the state to take an active role in evaluating and monitoring sports gender equity questions. The board's proposed rule outlines what schools must report to the Department of Education to determine compliance.

The federal government does not recognize competitive cheerleading as a sport, and neither does the board's proposed rule.

During Wednesday's public hearing, Jim Puckett, executive director of the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders, told board members that more than 8,000 students participate in cheerleading in the state, and more than 4,000 take part in competitions.

"If you've ever seen one of those competitions, that's serious business," he said. "They work long and hard."

Puckett, whose association includes local superintendents and school principals, said some colleges offer scholarships to cheerleaders.

Henson said the board may allow schools to note cheerleaders separately in their reports to let state officials see how that figure compares with the number of girls in other activities officially counted as sports.

"It could be that cheerleading has been so popular in the South because they (girls) haven't had other sports to choose from," Henson said.

School officials also raised concerns about financial reporting requirements. They said the rule would make systems report spending by gender, forcing them to try to determine how much of a coach's or administrator's salary should be counted as going to girls sports and how much to boys. It also would make them provide some accounting of booster club activities, they said.

LOAD-DATE: February 08, 2001