A long-expected change in federal regulations giving school districts greater flexibility to offer single-sex schooling is causing a stir.
The U.S. Department of Education yesterday said it was modifying portions of Title IX to make it easier for publicly funded schools to provide single-sex schooling to parents and students who want it.
Philadelphia already has several single-sex options and supporters hope the new rules will encourage more.
"Research shows that some students may learn better in single-sex environments," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "These final regulations permit communities to establish single-sex schools and classes as another means of meeting the needs of students."
Participation would be voluntary.
Some local and national groups, including the American Association of University Women in Washington, objected to the changes, saying they would "roll back the clock" on civil-rights protections that have ensured students have equitable educational opportunities.
"I think it's another retreat from the enforcement of civil rights by the Bush administration," said Carol E. Tracy, executive director of the Women's Law Project in Philadelphia, which opposed a boys' charter high school in Southwest Philadelphia opening next fall. "This is nothing to celebrate as far as we're concerned."
Educators in Philadelphia and other districts that have implemented single-sex schools and classes in anticipation of the announcement applauded the decision, as did school-choice advocates.
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"I think it's really great and overdue," said Brooks Garber, associate director of policy at the Center for Education Reform in Washington. He said opportunities for single-sex schooling have been limited mostly to parents who could afford to send their children to private schools where single-gender schools are common.
"Now we can provide the opportunity for public-school parents who couldn't afford to pay for it before," Brooks said.
After the 1972 adoption of Title IX's regulations barring gender discrimination, most publicly funded single-sex schools became coed. For example, all-boys Central High School became coed in the 1980s following a successful lawsuit.
But in the last several years, the notion of single-sex education began gaining converts, especially after some educators reported that inner-city minority boys and girls performed better academically in separate settings.
There were only three public single-sex schools in 1995, but this academic year there are 51, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. A total of 190 others offer single-sex classrooms.
A majority of those schools were approved after former Education Secretary Rod Paige released proposed changes to Title IX in the spring of 2004.
The regulations announced yesterday are similar. During a conference call with reporters, officials from the U.S. Department of Education said the final regulations reflect civil-rights concerns expressed in many of the 5,800 comments filed in response to the 2004 plan.
Stephanie Monroe, assistant secretary, said districts that plan to offer single-sex classes or operate single-gender schools will have to demonstrate that they are fulfilling an educational need. The districts also must provide "substantially equal" opportunities for both genders.
Districts will be required to review their programs every two years to make sure they comply with the regulations and federal law.
Even under the new regulations, vocational schools receiving federal funds are barred from offering single-sex programs.
The regulations will be published today and take effect Nov. 24.
Opponents said that researchers have found mixed academic benefits for single-sex schooling.
"The research at best is inconclusive," said Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations at the AAUW.
She said it made more sense for schools to spend their scarce resources on approaches that research has shown will improve children's education, including smaller classes and better-trained teachers.
But advocates say that research has found no harm in single-sex schooling and that some children have benefited from it.
David P. Hardy, chief executive office of the Southwest Academy Charter School for Boys, which will open next fall in Philadelphia, noted that city dropout statistics released last week show that male students of all races are lagging behind female students in high school graduation.
"I think it will help boys across the country and in Philadelphia," he said.
Paul Vallas, chief executive officer of the Philadelphia School District, which already has three single-sex high schools and some classes, said the new regulations dispel legal ambiguity.
Vallas said he thinks that the new regulations are more likely to produce applications for more single-sex charter schools.
Beside Hardy's charter, Vallas said, at least one other group has expressed interest in opening a charter for girls.
"Singe-sex is not a panacea," Vallas said. "But there is enough research out there to support opening single-sex schools in certain situations."
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