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Recent AAUW
Press Releases
SINGLE
SEX SCHOOLS WON'T CURE EDUCATION'S ILLS (5-10-02)
Washington, DC -The
American Association of University Women finds that the Department of
Education's recent endorsement of single-sex schools as a way to improve
education is bad education policy and unsupported by solid scientifically-based
research. Even worse, this policy could result in unequal education for
women and girls.
AAUW strongly urges
the Bush Administration to reconsider tampering with Title IX, a law that
is working for women and girls in education.
The debate over single
sex education is an unfortunate diversion from the
real issue of improving public schools for all students - especially since
90% of all students attend our nation's coed public schools.
There is no evidence
to back up the claim that single sex schools by
themselves improve the quality of public education. Research by AAUW and
others shows that it is greater funding, more attention to core academic
subjects, smaller class-size, parental involvement, and a clear code of
behavior and discipline, not single sex schools, that lead to educational
success for girls and boys.
The past has proven
that separate education is never equal - whether in the context of race
or gender. Current Title IX regulations already allow
single sex classes and schools in certain circumstances. For 30 years
these well thought out regulations have enabled women and girls to gain
greater equity in education. The precipitous changes proposed by the Bush
Administration would weaken Title IX and future progress.
The Department of
Education did not receive a mandate from Congress on this issue. It is
surprising that an administration whose education bill
contains the phrase "scientifically based research" 128 times
would
implement policies based on little or no valid research.
AAUW does not advocate
the creation of single-sex schools, but believes
that if they are to exist within public education, single-sex classes
and
schools must comply with relevant civil rights laws and the Constitution;
be initiated in response to demonstrated need; and be designed to inform
and improve the coeducational school system. AAUW believes that voluntary
single-sex classes must meet the above criteria.
Roe v. Wade Press
Conference (1/26/02)
Today the national
pro-choice coalition, of which AAUW is an active member, held a press
conference to commemorate Roe v. Wade and launch a new ad and website
(www.unitedforchoice.org). Radio and television coverage was significant.
The following groups
were represented at the press conference and are signed on to the United
for Choice campaign: AAUW: Voters for Choice, Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice; National Women's Law Center; National Abortion and
Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL); Planned Parenthood; National
Partnership for Women and Families; National Abortion Federation; Feminist
Majority Foundation; National Family Planning and Reproductive
Health Association; National Black Women's Health Project; ACLU; NOW,
PFAW, NOWLDEF, Coalition for Labor Union Women; American Medical Women's
Association; National Council for Jewish Women, Association of Reproductive
Health Providers; National Women's Political Caucus; and the National
Women's Health Network.
Roe v. Wade
Anniversary
Statement of Nancy Zirkin
Director of Public Policy and Government Relations
The American Association
of University Women (AAUW), comprised of 150,000 bi-partisan members,
stands strongly behind a woman's right to choose as articulated by the
Roe v. Wade decision. AAUW supports the right of every woman to safe,
accessible, and comprehensive reproductive health care, and believes that
decisions concerning reproductive health are personal ones that should
be made without government interference. AAUW trusts that every woman
has the ability to make her own choices concerning her reproductive
life within the dictates of her own moral and religious beliefs. AAUW
members have made this position an action priority since 1977.
Today these rights
are being challenged. During the last Congress alone, there were 25 votes
to restrict a woman's access to family planning and bortion services.
The Bush Administration, an anti-abortion majority in the House, and a
Senate dominated by anti-choice lawmakers are determined to eliminate
women's rights to safe, legal abortions, and to reproductive health care
choices.
Equally troubling
are the potential changes to the federal court system
under this Administration. If the President appoints one more Supreme
Court justice who is hostile to the right to choose, Roe could be toppled
forever. Moreover, the appointment of lower federal court judges opposed
to reproductive choice could effectively hollow out Roe's protections,
rendering the right to choose meaningless. It is clear that the Bush Administration
will continue to nominate anti-choice judges to the federal courts who
will roll back basic constitutional freedoms, including the right to reproductive
freedom.
In 1973, the US Supreme
Court recognized a woman's right to choose as a fundamental liberty, ushering
a new era of equality and advancement for American women. We cannot and
will not let January 22, 2002 be the last anniversary of this historic
decision that we celebrate today. AAUW members will continue to stand
up and make their voices heard to ensure that the right to choose will
endure for generations to come.
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