Despite USA Soccer star Brandi Chastain's open disdain for Fullerton Assemblyman Chris Norby's comments about Title IX, I understand the point that the local legislator was making about the intrusion of the state to mandate equal treatment for boys' and girls' athletics in our public schools. .
Legislation that presses for equality in any arena of public life, even a sports arena, will inevitably create more inequality. Assemblyman Norby correctly pointed out that Title IX actually limited student access to sports by shutting down programs which could not provide a complete parity to another gender. Indeed, a growing number of women's sports received more attention, but at what cost to everyone else in a school or in the community? Some sports are simply ill-suited for women to play (football, for example), and therefore public institutions should not be penalized for not providing identical sites and resources for these programs.
If there is one other issue which Title IX raises, along with all the other Titles imposed on taxpayers and public education, the issue of gender equality, it is the growing failure of our schools to respond to the local needs and interests of parents and students. A voucher system would permit families to lobby their local school administrators to offer better programs for their male and female students. If schools do not comply by offering substantial programs in response to the proper interest of parents and students, then student enrollment and funding can be directed toward those schools which are willing to accommodate the demands of the consumer.
The state cannot balance its budget, cannot tame the public sector unions bleeding this state dry, and legislators on both sides of the aisle cannot come together to forge lasting compromises to save California from a record-breaking bankruptcy. Yet our legislators are taking time out of their day to recognize the passage of another piece of nanny-state progressivism. Sacramento's priorities are altogether out of whack. Why not discussing the racial and gender equality that plagues our public schools, in large part because parents and students cannot choose the public school where they enroll.