BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 248
AUTHOR: Oropeza
AMENDED: March 31, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 22, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Title IX
SUMMARY
This bill requires school districts and campuses of the
California Community Colleges and California State
University to post, by July 1, 2010, on their websites,
entrances to gymnasiums and in locker rooms a list of
specified rights regarding Title IX.
BACKGROUND
Current federal law (Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972 to the 1964 Civil Rights Act) provides that, in
part, "no person in the United States shall, on the basis
of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
educational program of activity receiving Federal financial
assistance." In order to be in compliance with Federal
Title IX, a school must show compliance with one of these
three parts. The federal tests are:
1) Athletic participation of women and girls is
proportionate to enrollment.
2) The school has a history and continuing practice of
program expansion for women or girls.
3) The school is fully meeting female athletes' interests
and abilities in its present athletic program.
Current state law (AB 833, Steinberg, Chapter 660, 2003)
establishes standards virtually identical to those of
Federal Title IX, with one modification: in Test 2,
"history" is defined to mean the past two years.
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Current law (AB 322, Oropeza, Chapter 386, 2005) requires
the California Department of Education (CDE) to post on its
website, by July 1, 2006, in both English and Spanish,
information in the federal regulations implementing Title
IX. The CDE is authorized to use a list of specific rights
that are based on Title IX regulations as a source for the
information for the website.
Title IX applies to all aspects of educational
opportunities, not just athletics.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires school districts and campuses of the
California Community Colleges and California State
University to post, by July 1, 2010, on their websites,
entrances to gymnasiums and in locker rooms a list of
specified rights regarding Title IX. Specifically, this
bill:
1) Requires a school district to place, by July 1, 2010,
on its website and post on the entrance to the
gymnasiums of the schools within the district and in
the locker rooms a list of specified rights that are
based on Title IX. Examples of those rights include,
but are not limited to, the following:
a) You have the right to fair and equitable
treatment and you shall not be discriminated
against based on your sex.
b) You have the right to be provided with an
equitable opportunity to participate in all
academic extracurricular activities, including
athletics.
c) You have the right to have access to a
gender equity coordinator to answer questions
regarding gender equity laws.
d) You have the right to file a confidential
discrimination complaint, as specified.
e) You have the right to pursue civil remedies
if you have been discriminated against.
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2) Requires the president or chief executive officer of a
California Community College (CCC) campus and the
president of a campus of a California State University
(CSU) to place, by July 1, 2010, on the website of the
campus and post on the entrance to the gymnasiums and
in the locker rooms a list of specified rights that
are based on Title IX (this list is identical to the
list of rights relative to K-12 pupils).
3) Requests the chancellor of each campus of the
University of California to take the same action.
4) Requires that a list of these rights be posted in at
least 12-point bold type, and the bottom of each
poster is to contain the name and contact information
for the gender equity coordinator of the school,
college or university.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Mandate . This bill imposes a reimbursable mandate
upon school districts and community college campuses.
2) More than just athletics . Title IX applies to all
aspects of educational opportunities, not just
athletics, and covers staff as well. This bill is
focused primarily on athletics, as it requires the
list of rights be posted outside gymnasiums and locker
rooms (in addition to posting on websites). Should
this bill additionally require the list of rights to
be posted at all entrances to any K-12 school,
California Community College (CCC) and California
State University (CSU) campus, be published in course
catalogs and notices sent home to parents, or other
prominent locations on campuses?
3) K-12 vs. higher education . This bill requires school
districts, community colleges and CSU campuses to post
identical lists of rights relative to Title IX.
However, this list references the California
Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and State Department
of Education, which are specific to K-12 education.
Staff recommends an amendment to delete reference to
the CIF and the department of education in the list of
rights for higher education students, and instead
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state that students can contact the National
Collegiate Athletic Association or the United States
Office of Civil Rights for information on gender
equity laws, and the Office of Civil Rights to file a
confidential discrimination complaint.
4) Technical amendments . On page 3, line 36, insert "or"
after "president." On page 3, line 39, strike
"colleges in the district or university" and insert
"campus." Change "coordination" to "coordinator" on
page 4, line 39 and page 5, line 8.
5) Related legislation . SB 195 (Florez, 2009) expands
the information that must be included in the assurance
of compliance with Title IX currently provided by
postsecondary educational institutions to the Student
Aid Commission, and adds a $50,000 civil penalty for
knowingly providing false information. SB 195 passed
this committee on a 5-1 vote on April 15, and is now
pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
SUPPORT
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance
California Athletic Trainers Association
OPPOSITION
None received.