Title IX – Celebrated 50 Years on June 23, 2022
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, protecting staff and students in any educational institution or program that receives federal funds. This includes local school districts, colleges and universities, for-profit schools, career and technical education programs, libraries, and museums. Music, choir, sex education classes, and sports involving bodily contact are exempt from Title IX, as are religious institutions if the law would violate their religious tenets. Admissions policies at private undergraduate institutions are also exempt.
Title IX requires recipients of federal education funding to evaluate their current policies and practices; adopt and publish a policy against sex discrimination, including sexual harassment and violence; and implement grievance procedures providing for prompt and equitable resolution of student and employee discrimination complaints. The law also prohibits retaliation for filing a Title IX complaint or advocating for those making a complaint.
Title IX is not just for athletics. It affects all areas of education, including:
- Recruitment, admissions and housing
- Career and technical education
- Pregnant, parenting, and/or married students
- Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
- Sexual harassment and assault
- Comparable facilities and access to course offering
- Financial assistance
- Student health services and insurance benefits
- Harassment based on gender identity
- Athletics
Fairfax County’s website provides an email address/phone number for the county’s Title IX Coordinator, but no name. The website page includes a form for filing complaints of sexual harassment. This seems to be an area to usefully learn a lot more about how Title IX is being enforced in our local schools.