Title IX lawsuit: Lake Oswego, OR

[Sparky Guy]

The only point I was attempting to make is by building support within the community through success and strong lobbying efforts would result in lasting change. The lawsuit will only divide the community and drain precious resources. Legal action may be the only way to bring resolution to the problem, but it should be the avenue of last resort. I think you'll find most who have been involved in litigation will concur.

Unfortunately, all to often, the complaints are met with a lot of "We'll look into it." with lip service being paid to those making the complaints. Until the complainant shows up with a large legal club, will things get done. As far the legal costs go. The school board could have avoided them altogether by doing what was right for the girls from the beginning.

 

[marriard]

Is there anywhere in my replies that would suggest that I believe the situation at Lake Oswego Senior High School has been, or is fair? Have I indicated that I believe the situation was/is acceptable? Did I suggest legal action is NEVER warranted? Should we take arial photos of every HS athletic campus across the country and if anything is found to be "unequal", someone should immediately file suit? Good grief. We all want the same thing but clogging up the courts and spending money on anything outside of the students/athletes unnecessarily would seem to me to be Plan B or maybe even Plan C rather than a starting tactic.

Totally agree you should be starting and continuing to go down other paths without getting into formal complaints. But when you are put off for multiple years and other sports are not, you need the hammer that TitleIX provides and you also need to be willing to use it.

In my first post in this thread, I indicated our HS softball practice facilities are not up to the same standard as the baseball practice facilities. They aren't. However, they are more than acceptable, and better than most in the area. In my opinion, the baseball facilities are over the top, and were partially funded by non-taxpayer resources. The fact that those families that raised the money, and and people in the community that gave the money wanted to augment the funding of baseball facilities should not require the school board match that excess to "make it fair". Our softball fields have something the boys and their supporters can't buy.....Championship banners.

TitleIX does not consider the source of funds. That is intentional so schools can't go round funding and privately fund their million dollar facility for football/baseball/whatever and ignore everything else. It is nice that boosters raised funds, and it isn't even a matching situation, but how it is supposed to work is laid out clearly in TitleIX. Because it can go over the top real quick - and does all the time. So here I absolutely have to disagree with you because this is one of the primary reasons TitleIX has to exist - to avoid ignoring other sports because one sport is getting all the attention. Forcing schools to consider this is also part of the intention of TitleIX.

And great you have acceptable or at least adequate facilities.

See not every school board has the mindset to "cheat" girls, and not every situation in the country is the same as Lake Oswego.

Agree - however many are or - as others have pointed out - apathy is every bit as dangerous as an intentional mindset. School Boards get a long torrent of complaints about everything and will ignore what they can, when they can so they can deal with the complaints that they have to. When you get to the point where you need them to pay attention, it is good to have the leverage needed to make it one of the things they have to pay attention to.

 

[JoeKC]

.....TitleIX does not consider the source of funds. That is intentional so schools can't go round funding and privately fund their million dollar facility for football/baseball/whatever and ignore everything else. It is nice that boosters raised funds, and it isn't even a matching situation, but how it is supposed to work is laid out clearly in TitleIX. Because it can go over the top real quick - and does all the time. So here I absolutely have to disagree with you because this is one of the primary reasons TitleIX has to exist - to avoid ignoring other sports because one sport is getting all the attention. Forcing schools to consider this is also part of the intention of TitleIX.

....and there you have it. Everyone could have stellar facilities, but because some are more stellar than others, we must have a law that makes us all EQUAL. Oh, and to hell with the people/communities who decide to fund something of importance to them, their opinions don't matter and their money is not welcomed unless it goes through the collective. Isn't government grand? Please understand, I don't endorse discrimination of any kind, but common sense should intervene at some point

 

[marriard]

....and there you have it. Everyone could have stellar facilities, but because some are more stellar than others, we must have a law that makes us all EQUAL. Oh, and to hell with the people/communities who decide to fund something of importance to them, their opinions don't matter and their money is not welcomed unless it goes through the collective. Isn't government grand? Please understand, I don't endorse discrimination of any kind, but common sense should intervene at some point

When has common sense had any place in youth sports? Or anything else for that matter. There is a real lack of common sense out there and it is certainly not something you can rely on.

I mean here we have one of many similar cases where DESPITE TitleIX and everything that has happened around it for the past 40 years, they just went ahead and totally ignored it. And it is not like they were not being told by multiple people that they were ignoring it. In this case they allegedly even took a major donation that softball brought in and gave that money to another sport.

And it is not a matter of equal - the statute requires fair opportunities and support in various forms and they spell it out really well for those that need to know on various websites and in training they provide. There is plenty of wriggle room and for the most part, the decisions and actions have been reasonable and equitable.

 

[JoeKC]

When has common sense had any place in youth sports? Or anything else for that matter.

An excellent point!!

 

[John T]

All,

There is a ton of information out there on Title IX and a process that the Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights both want you follow...if one follows those steps(Complaint with AD, complaint with the School Board, complaint with Title IX officer and if not satisfied a complaint to the OCR) it may be remedied along the way.

The standard they use is "Comparable" not "Equal" and yes funds can not be "Earmarked" for a baseball field or football field...they have to go into the general fund.

The caution that I would recommend to someone filing a complaint is that they (OCR) will look at everything within your athletic program and you do not get to pick and choose what YOU think is wrong with the program(s). This can lead to unintended consequences and in some cases a lot of hard feelings. You also do not get to "Be in" on what the district decides to remedy the problem and the OCR has the final say on if it is acceptable.

 

[bleacher coach]

be smart move and just play at a school with a crappy football and basketball team because you know they wont be using the mon ey for sports

 

[grmerrill]

So the takeaways from this discussion, is that if you want the tools to become successful, you must first be a winner.

And my daughter should be treated fairly compared to the boy that sits across the isle in math as long as there is no dollar amount attached. Because others don't value the sport she plays she should just accept her place.

No. Anyone that could impartially watch the story and not have an issue probably doesn't belong on a girls softball forum.

This is an easy fix. Swap facilities, convert the baseball field to softball, send the boys to the junior high field. I'm sure no tears will be shed. This is one time I support the legal process.

And fire the idiot from the school that made the comment about championships justifying better treatment.

 

[mogsoftball]

....and there you have it. Everyone could have stellar facilities, but because some are more stellar than others, we must have a law that makes us all EQUAL. Oh, and to hell with the people/communities who decide to fund something of importance to them, their opinions don't matter and their money is not welcomed unless it goes through the collective. Isn't government grand? Please understand, I don't endorse discrimination of any kind, but common sense should intervene at some point

If the schools don't like it then they can become private schools, pretty sure privates are exempt. However, as long as they are taking public money (my money included) they have to adhere to treating everyone fairly. Why should my daughter be given substandard treatment that your son doesn't get when we both are contributing t the funds the school draws from.

I am a conservative and fully support the rights of private business, however if you want to swim in the public pond expect to follow public rules and treat everyone as an equal.

 

[marriard]

If the schools don't like it then they can become private schools, pretty sure privates are exempt. However, as long as they are taking public money (my money included) they have to adhere to treating everyone fairly.

Title IX applies to almost all schools, private or not as the framework for what constitutes federal funding is broad and includes funds paid to the school by students and other entities (so includes financial aids, research grants, etc, etc). Even something as simple as accepting federal funds for lunch programs would mean inclusion.

Even if you put yourself in a situation where a school absolutely DOES NOT receive any funds (which is almost impossible), many states have statutes that mirror Title IX. For example California Education Code § 221.5 and California Education Code § 66271.7 prohibit gender discrimination in schools and mirrors requirements almost the same.

For example:
NCAA: "Almost all private colleges and universities must abide by Title IX regulations because they receive federal funding through federal financial aid programs used by their students."

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