We just had a major victory — and we hope you’ll help us celebrate!
As you know, pregnant and parentingstudents 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,
Help us protect girls from sexual assault and bullying and continue other vital work with a generous donation.
When you see the news, it’s the same disturbing story. The four-letter word our friends, sisters and daughters face in school? Slut. Sometimes even after experiencing sexual violence. Here is the story of one Michigan high school student.
She was sexually assaulted at school in a soundproof band room by a star player on the basketball team and then felt discouraged by the principal from filing charges. The girl and her parents filed charges anyway. Despite an obligation under Title IX, which requires federally funded schools to ensure an environment free from sex-based discrimination, school officials took virtually no action. And the victim was subsequently subjected to intensive harassment and bullying by the assailant and other students — both at school and online. The National Women’s Law Center has joined with a Michigan law firm to file a lawsuit in federal court to hold this school district accountable for its failure to adequately address the harassment and to send a nationwide message that sexual assault, bullying and harassment is never okay. Your help allows us to take on cases like this and continue our work to protect women and girls. Please donate $10 to support our work.
Sadly, this student is far from alone. Every two minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. As we’ve seen in Steubenville, Ohio and across the country, this problem is not going away. And often after a sexual assault, survivors are made to feel ashamed instead of supported. The chilling message students are receiving from some schools is that they should remain silent in the face of sexual assault. It’s time to end that. Please donate $10 to support the Center’s work.
Thank you for helping us continue to stand up for women and girls.
Sincerely,
Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National Women’s Law Center
Two simple words, but they convey a world of meaning. Without your work, your time and your support, we would not be celebrating.
We’ve been through a lot together this year. Just think about it: since the beginning of 2012, we’ve seen attack after attack on women’s reproductive health, including attempts to roll back insurance coverage for birth control and other preventive health services we won under the new health care law. Our This Is Personal campaign is just one way we’re pushing back — and so far have prevailed!
Speaking of the health care law, the House of Representatives voted more than thirty times to gut the Affordable Care Act. Together, we stopped them in their tracks. The Center also helped defend the ACA in the courts, filing a friend of the court brief in the Supreme Court on behalf of sixty organizations. And of course, the Court upheld the law’s main provisions.
Meanwhile, members of Congress attempted to hollow out the programs so many women and families count on. They tried to cut taxes yet again for the most fortunate among us. Together we stopped them for now, but our struggles are far from over, and we’re calling on you again to make your voice heard during the budget debates in the year-end “lame duck” session of Congress.
And, just this month we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Center, and this summer we cheered the women athletes at the Olympics, which were dubbed the “Title IX Olympics” during what was also Title IX’s 40th anniversary year.
So much to celebrate and so much still to do. Thank you for everything you’ve done, and for everything we know you WILL do in the months to come. We’re truly grateful. For now, get some rest and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends!
You’ve recently seen two important NWLC initiatives trumpeting the successes of Title IX in its 40th year: the Faces of Title IX website and our new report evaluating the help schools give pregnant and parenting students. But despite the advances we’ve made since Title IX became law in 1972, we still have a long way to go before its promise of equal access to educational opportunities is a reality for everyone. Please donate $9 today to support the Center’s work on Title IX and so many other issues important to women and families.
The nine stories on the “Faces” website illustrate how the law has helped people over the last four decades, whether it’s a student like Leia Brugger facing bullying in school, a young woman pressured to leave school after becoming pregnant or a teenage runner physically blocked by a race official. “Faces of Title IX” explains the law through powerful words and images.
Our comprehensive and well researched report on pregnant and parenting students, “A Pregnancy Test for Schools: The Impact of Education Laws on Pregnant and Parenting Students,” ranks all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on the extent to which their laws and policies help pregnant and parenting students succeed. Plus, it offers a toolkit for local action and recommendations for federal, state, and local policymakers and school officials.
The “Faces” site and the report on pregnant and parenting students work in concert: one shows you Title IX in action, while the other tells you how well schools and states are doing as they try to implement one of its most important provisions. Together, they reach the heart AND the head. Help us produce vital resources like these: please donate $9 today to support the Center’s work on Title IX and so many other issues important to women and girls.
Thank you for all that you do on behalf of women and our families.
Sincerely,
Help make sure these Faces of Title IX are heard. Share today!
“Come to the blacktop at my middle school and hang out for a couple of hours. You’ll get a sense of what 12-to-14-year olds like and how they act. For them this is the center of the world.”
Middle school teacher Sarah Egan takes us on her three year journey when she agrees to coach the girls’ basketball team. Most of the players had never picked up a basketball and early on, she considered it a success if they ran in the right direction. Her team lost every game in the first two seasons.
But despite these odds, they transform into a championship team. More importantly, as they support each other as a group, their spirits soar and they gain confidence both on the court and in the classroom.
Sarah’s is just one of nine stories at the heart of NWLC’s new online portal, FACES OF TITLE IX. These stories go beyond the statistics to show how the law has helped people — whether it’s a student facing bullying in school, a young woman pressured to leave school after becoming pregnant or a race official literally standing in a young woman’s way.
As we commemorate Title IX’s 40th year, we need your help to make sure these Faces of Title IX are seen and their stories read. We believe in the power of stories to transform the public dialogue. Please take a second to share these stories with your friends, family and colleagues:
Forward this email to your friends, family, and co-workers
Or, share your own Title IX story with us! And we’re not just talking about stories on athletics. Do you have a story about the science and technology fields, about school bullying and harassment, or about pregnant or parenting students? Or, can you talk about what life was like before Title IX?
These stories illustrate both the enormous progress we’ve made and the work that remains to reach the full promise of Title IX. Thank you for your help in spreading the word.
Be a Seed for Change 
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