Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
June 23, 2002 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 8; Column 2; Sports Desk; Pg. 7

LENGTH: 844 words

HEADLINE: BackTalk;
For All the Good Things It Has Done, Title IX Is Still Plagued by Myths

BYLINE: By BILLIE JEAN KING; Billie Jean King is the founder of the Women's Sports Foundation.

BODY:


When my brother Randy and I were growing up, we supported each other's dreams of being professional athletes. We both loved sport and we were there for each other as we went through the ups and downs of being athletes; he as a baseball player for the San Francisco Giants and me as an international tennis player.

As Title IX turns 30 today, there are those who want us to believe that this is a male-versus-female issue. There are those who want the public to believe that this is a "zero sum" game; that if women get a chance to play, men lose. This is no time for extremism and no time for anyone to pit men versus women or boys against girls. Those days are over. We are in this together -- male and female athletes who love sports, and families who want their sons and daughters to play because of the health, confidence and other benefits they will receive as a result of such participation. That's the bottom line and we had better not forget it. Also, there are a number of negative myths about Title IX that need to be addressed.

MYTH: Title IX requires cutting men's teams.

FACT: There is nothing in Title IX that requires schools to cut men's teams. Men's sports participation in high school and college has increased since the law's inception 30 years ago. More important, two-thirds of the schools that have added women's sports to comply with Title IX did not eliminate any men's sports.

We can afford to maintain all of our exciting football and basketball programs, keep all men's minor sports and add new women's sports if schools exercise fiscal restraint and support each sport with a smaller piece of the budgetary pie. Financial responsibility is what we should be talking about, not weakening civil-rights laws. We simply cannot believe rhetoric claiming football will die if our daughters have an equal chance to play.

MYTH: Women are less interested in sports than men.

FACT: Development of women's interest in sports since the enactment of Title IX shows irrefutably that interest reflects opportunity. While fewer than 30,000 women participated in college sports before Title IX, today that number exceeds 150,000 -- five times the pre-Title IX rate. Women's participation continues to be hampered simply by schools not sponsoring teams for them to play on. To accept the notion that women are less interested in sports than men would simply maintain existing discrimination and curtail opportunities at artificially limited levels.

Let's face it, there will always be more kids interested in playing than we have resources to provide them with opportunities. There are more than six million boys and girls playing high school sports today who are vying for fewer than half a million college athletic participation slots. All Title IX says is that if you have sports participation opportunities, you offer equal opportunity to men and women.

MYTH: Women are no longer the victims of discrimination in sports.

FACT: Despite Title IX's considerable successes, the playing field is far from level. Spending on men's sports continues to vastly exceed spending on women's sports. Male athletes annually receive $133 million more in athletic scholarship than female athletes. Thirty years after Title IX, women still receive 30 percent fewer sports participation opportunities.

MYTH: Title IX requires quotas for women.

FACT: Title IX requires that women and girls be given equal opportunities to participate in athletics. Because Title IX allows sports teams to be segregated by gender, in essence it allows schools to decide how many teams they will sponsor and how many slots they will allocate for female, as compared to male, students. Title IX simply requires that schools allocate these slots in a nondiscriminatory manner. Title IX does not require "proportionality" or any other mathematical test, as some are alleging. There are many schools that are conducting athletic programs that are in compliance with Title IX with athletic program male/female participation numbers that are not proportional to the percentages of men and women in their general student bodies. Use of the word quota misleads the public.

Do I feel Title IX has worked in the intended way the law was created 30 years ago? I would say, judging by the 847 percent increase in high school athletic participation by girls, yes. But, Title IX needs stronger enforcement because girls are still receiving 1.1 million fewer chances to play high school sports than boys. Thirty years after the passage of Title IX, it's estimated that 80 percent of all schools and colleges are still out of compliance with the law.

The Bush administration needs to send a clear message that Title IX is valid and legal and women are entitled to full and equal rights to participate in federally funded education programs and activities. The public expects our government to strongly defend equal rights for men and women. Taxpayers expect their sons and daughters to receive equal educational opportunities, whether it's math, science, drama or athletics. That's the bottom line. Let's go for it!


URL: http://www.nytimes.com

GRAPHIC: Photos: Billie Jean King and her brother, Randy Moffitt, who pitched in the major leagues, dreamed of playing professionally growing up. (Associated Press left ; Barton Silverman/The New York Times right ) Drawings (Illustration by The New York Times)

LOAD-DATE: June 23, 2002