Policy Change Comes After Notice From
ACLU
May
8, 2009
ASHVILLE, AL – The St. Clair County School System in
“We commend St.
Clair County for abandoning sex segregation in the coming school year,” said
Allison Neal, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Alabama. “Especially in a
period of tight budgets, it makes sense for school districts to invest their
time and money into methods that have been proven to promote student success.
While single-sex education is trendy, the evidence supporting its effectiveness
just isn't there.”
The ACLU received a
letter from the school system yesterday, stating that it would end the
single-sex education program at
At a St. Clair
County Board of Education meeting on April 20, Neal outlined how sex segregated
programs inevitably lead to inequality and may violate Title IX of the Education
Amendments, the Equal Education Opportunities Act and the U.S. Constitution.
The school system had invited the ACLU to speak at the meeting after receiving
an Open Records Act request from the ACLU asking for information about St.
Clair County’s sex segregated programs because of concerns that they might be
discriminatory.
“One of the
strengths of public schools is the opportunity they provide for students to
learn from those different from themselves,” said Emily Martin, Deputy Director
of the ACLU Women's Rights Program. “When boys and girls learn how to cooperate
and compete, they get the best preparation for working together in a
coeducational world.”
Attorneys who worked
on the Open Records request include Neal from the ACLU of
A copy of the St.
Clair County School System letter is available at: www.aclu.org/womensrights/edu/39544res20090505.html
The ACLU's Open
Records request is available online at: www.aclu.org/womensrights/edu/38096res20081215.html
More information on
the ACLU Women's Rights Project work on sex segregation is available at: www.aclu.org/womensrights/edu/34504res20080228.html