Duncan | Be a Seed for Change

We just had a major victory — and we hope you’ll help us celebrate!
As you know, pregnant and parenting students face a lot of challenges in school. Educational barriers and discrimination often make it hard for teen moms to succeed in school.
But this week, things are looking up.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights just released guidance for schools on Title IX and pregnant and parenting students, for the first time in 22 years. To get the word out, the Department is sending pamphlets explaining the guidance to thousands of school districts as well as colleges and universities across the country. The pamphlets help clarify what the law says when it comes to pregnant and parenting students — and that’s great news for teen girls.
But to be effective, the guidance has to be enforced. Please thank Secretary Duncan and remind him of the next important step for pregnant and parenting students — enforcement.
This Title IX guidance was sorely needed, and NWLC fought hard for it. We’ve been getting calls for years from young women who are being pushed out of school in violation of the law.
For example, some high school students in Georgia were told that they had to come back to school within a week of giving birth, or they’d be marked unexcused for any absences and wouldn’t be allowed to make up the work they’d missed. At the same school, pregnant and parenting students were prohibited from running for homecoming court and from being included in senior superlatives.
Sounds crazy, right? It’s 2013. Forty-one years after Title IX was passed, this shouldn’t be happening anymore. Not only should schools not be discriminating, but also there is a lot schools can and should do to support the success of pregnant and parenting students.
That’s another reason the guidance released this week is so important. It not only explains what schools have to do to follow the law — it suggests school strategies and program ideas to make a difference in the lives of young parents and their children.
Please join us in thanking Secretary Duncan for issuing this guidance and reminding him of the need for enforcement.
Thanks again for all of your hard work.
Sincerely,