Courting equity

NEA Today, Mar 1999

Innovator:

Diane Madsen

Job:

Chemistry teacher, East Kentwood High School, Kentwood, Michigan

Bright Idea:

At a girls' basketball game six years ago, Madsen's youngest daughter observed that the team didn't have cheerleaders, a mascot, a concession stand, or a program like the boys' teams.

So the girl said, "I'm going to have to be good enough to play on the boys' team." That's when her mother mobilized to even the playing field for boys and girls.

Madsen's research showed that Michigan boys had prime-time practice and game slots, fanfare at games, and longer seasons that paralleled college season sports. Girls, on the other hand, had to play major sports in non-traditional seasons.

This violated Title IX, the federal law that requires gender equity in educational programs receiving federal funds, says Madsen.

"When college recruiters were drafting volleyball players, our girls were not even on the courts, because they play after the recruiting season," says Madsen. "Girls didn't have the same opportunities for college scholarships or ranking among top-rated teams in the country."

Madsen raised her concerns with the school district superintendent, who formed a gender equity committee (later replaced with a Title IX officer) that began addressing some of the disparitiesbuilding a girls' varsity locker room at Northview High, for one.

Madsen and parent Connie Engel then formed Communities for Equity, a nonprofit organization that advocates gender equity in Michigan school athletics. Now in its fourth year, the organization offers counsel to other states struggling with equity issues.

Last summer, Communities for Equity filed a lawsuit against the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), which coordinates high school sports in the state, charging that discriminatory policies require girls to play sports in nontraditional seasons with shorter schedules and at second-rate sites.

"We don't let boys get the best textbooks, the best seats, and teach them at the most accommodating times," says Madsen.

"This inequity in sports hurts girls' selfesteem."

Impact:

The lawsuit against MHSAA will likely have national implications.

For More: Contact Madsen at Communities for Equity, P.O. Box 663, Ada, MI 49301, 616/3610526, E-mail: Wsouthw874 @aol.com.