More Resources Proposed Regulation

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced that the Department is seeking public comment on a proposed regulation that would make it easier for schools to offer—and for parents to choose—same-sex classes and schools for students. The proposed regulation will be published in an upcoming edition of the Federal Register and there will be a 45-day public comment period.

"This proposed regulation is yet another example of our efforts to provide maximum flexibility to help states and schools provide the best education possible for their students," Secretary Paige said. "This regulation is designed to provide educators and parents with a wider range of diverse education options in public as well as private schools that receive federal aid to meet the needs and interests of students.

"While the research in this area is incomplete, it does indicate that single-sex educational programs produce positive results for some students in some settings. For example, one study has found that single-sex education particularly helps children from underprivileged backgrounds."

The No Child Left Behind Act contains a provision—sponsored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R., Tx.) with strong bipartisan support—that directed the Department to issue guidance to school districts about how innovative single-sex schools and classes could participate in certain No Child Left Behind programs.

"Single sex educational programs have been available in private schools for years," said Sen. Hutchison. "It's time our nation's public school children have the same options as their private school contemporaries. We want to give school districts the flexibility to respond to the particular needs of their students. Our goal is to give parents and school districts more choices."

The proposed regulation would amend existing regulations under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sexual discrimination in education programs that receive federal funds. The proposed amendments are posted at www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/proprule/2004-1/030904a.html.

Single-Sex Classes

In general, current Title IX regulations prohibit same-sex classes except in very specific situations, such as sexual education or physical education classes involving body contact. Under the proposed amendments, single-sex classes would be permitted if they are part of an evenhanded effort to provide a range of diverse educational options for male and female students, or if they are designed to meet particular, identified educational needs of students.

Schools would be permitted to offer single-sex classes as long as participation is voluntary; for example, if a school offers an Advanced Placement physics class for girls, the school must also offer a co-ed AP physics class. In addition, the school's decision to offer same-sex classes must be fair; in other words, the school must treat both male and female students the same when deciding to offer single-sex classes.

Single-Sex Schools

Title IX does not generally apply to school admissions (except for vocational schools); therefore, a school district does not need to justify offering a non-vocational single-sex school as long as certain conditions are met to ensure that all students have equal educational opportunities. However, the proposed regulations would increase the flexibility for school districts that offer single-sex schools by allowing the school district to decide whether the equal education opportunity offered for the excluded sex should be single-sex or co-ed-as long as the opportunities for both sexes are substantially equal.

The Secretary expects to publish final amendments to the Title IX regulations after reviewing comments from the public.

All public comments will be available for inspection both during and after the public comment period. Persons wishing to view the comments may do so at the Department of Education, Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C Street S.W., Room 5036, Washington, D.C., between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. each business day except federal holidays.

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