HR 2882 IHCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct certain coeducational elementary and secondary schools to make available information on equality in school athletic programs, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

June 16, 2009CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ARCURI, Ms. BERKLEY, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MASSA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PLATTS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. WEXLER, and Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and LaborCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct certain coeducational elementary and secondary schools to make available information on equality in school athletic programs, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘High School Athletics Accountability Act of 2009’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings- The Congress finds as follows:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) Participation in sports teaches youth critical life skills and has a significant positive impact on all areas of their lives, especially for girls.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) Girls who participate in sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem, lower levels of depression, are less likely to be suicidal, are more likely to have a positive body image than female non-athletes, and are half as likely to experience an unintended pregnancy as compared to female non-athletes. Girls who participate in sports have higher graduation rates, receive better grades, and are less likely to smoke or use illegal drugs.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) Sports participation effectively combats obesity, which is particularly significant given that one in six girls are obese or overweight and African-Americans and Hispanic girls face even greater risks.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) Despite advances in athletic opportunities for women and girls since the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, discrimination still limits athletic opportunities for females in interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics. Girls comprise 49 percent of the high school population, but receive only 41 percent of all interscholastic athletic participation opportunities nationwide. This translates into 1,300,000 fewer opportunities to play high school sports for girls than for boys. These lost participation opportunities also result in the loss of athletic scholarships that make it possible for many girls and young women to attend college.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) There is ample evidence that girls’ teams often receive inferior benefits and services when they do play, in areas such as overall budgets; travel; equipment; uniforms; facilities, including locker rooms, fields, and practice and competitive facilities; training and medical services; publicity; access to coaches; and scheduling of practices, games, and sports seasons.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6) Without information about how athletic opportunities and benefits are being allocated at the elementary and secondary school levels, students may be deprived of opportunities to play sports and to receive athletic scholarships to attend college.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7) Students, parents, and schools should be aware of the athletic opportunities and benefits available to male and female students so that they can work to enhance athletic opportunities for all and address any inequities.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are as follows:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) To ensure that information about the allocation of athletic opportunities and benefits at the elementary and secondary school levels is available to all students.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) To promote equal opportunities for both boys and girls to engage in school-sponsored athletics.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) To provide boys and girls with equal access to the physical, psychological, health and other benefits that result from playing sports.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF STATISTICS ON EQUALITY IN ATHLETIC PROGRAMS.

Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

‘SEC. 9537. EQUALITY IN ATHLETIC PROGRAMS.

‘(a) Report- Each coeducational elementary or secondary school that participates in any program under this Act and has an athletic program, shall annually, for the immediately preceding academic year, prepare a report that contains the following information:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) The number of students that attended the school and for each student an identification of such student’s--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) sex;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) race; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) ethnicity.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) A listing of the teams that competed in athletic competition and for each such team the following data:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) The total number of participants as of the day of the first scheduled contest for the team, and for each participant an identification of such participant’s--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) sex;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) race; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) ethnicity.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) The year the team began.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) The total expenditures for each team from school and nonschool sources, including a listing of the following data for each team:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) Expenditures for travel.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) Expenditures for equipment (including any equipment replacement schedule).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) Expenditures for uniforms (including any uniform replacement schedule).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iv) Expenditures for facilities (including locker rooms, fields, and gymnasiums) and their maintenance and repair.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(v) Expenditures for training and medical facilities and services.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(vi) Expenditures for publicity for competitions (including press guides, press releases, game programs, and publicity personnel).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) The total number of trainers and medical personnel, and for each trainer or medical personnel an identification of such person’s--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) sex;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) employment status (including whether such person is employed full-time or part-time, and whether such person is a head or assistant trainer or medical services provider) and duties other than providing training or medical services; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) qualifications, including whether the person is a professional or student.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(E) The total number of coaches, and for each coach an identification of such coach’s--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) sex;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) employment status (including whether such coach is employed full-time or part-time, and whether such coach is a head or assistant coach) and duties other than coaching; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) qualifications, including whether the person is a professional or student.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(F) Total annual revenues generated by the team (including contributions from outside sources such as booster clubs), disaggregated by source.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(G) The total number of competitions scheduled, and for each scheduled competition an indication of what day of the week and time the competition was scheduled.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(H) The total number of practices scheduled, and for each scheduled practice an indication of what day of the week and time the practice was scheduled.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(I) The season in which the team competed.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(J) Whether such team participated in postseason competition, and the success of such team in any postseason competition.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(3) The average annual institutional salary attributable to coaching of the head coaches of men’s teams, across all offered sports, and the average annual institutional salary attributable to coaching of the head coaches of women’s teams, across all offered sports.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(4) The average annual institutional salary attributable to coaching of the assistant coaches of men’s teams, across all offered sports, and the average annual institutional salary attributable to coaching of the assistant coaches of women’s teams, across all offered sports.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(b) Special Rule- For the purpose of reporting the information described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (a), if a coach has responsibilities for more than 1 team and the school does not allocate such coach’s salary by team, the school should divide the salary by the number of teams for which the coach has responsibility and allocate the salary among the teams on a basis consistent with the coach’s responsibilities for the different teams.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(c) Disclosure of Information to Students and Public- On an annual basis, each coeducational elementary or secondary school described in subsection (a) shall--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) make available to students, potential students, and the public, upon request, the information contained in each report by the school under this section by October 15 of each school year; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) ensure that all students at the school and members of the relevant community are informed of their right to request such information.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(d) Submission; Information Availability- On an annual basis, each coeducational elementary or secondary school described in subsection (a) shall provide the information contained in each report by the school under this section to the Commissioner for Education Statistics not later than 15 days after the date that the school makes such information available under subsection (c).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(e) Duties of Commissioner for Education Statistics- The Commissioner for Education Statistics shall--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) ensure that the data required under this section are posted on the Department of Education’s Web site within a reasonable period of time; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the High School Athletics Accountability Act of 2009, notify all elementary and secondary schools in all States about the requirements under subsection (c) and issue guidance to all elementary and secondary schools on how to collect and report the information required under this section.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink