吃瓜大本营

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org PARKERSBURG, W.Va. 鈥� The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of West Virginia, and the law firm Morrison & Foerster today reached a court-approved settlement with the Wood County Board of Education on behalf of a mother and her daughters challenging a single-sex education program at Van Devender Middle School that violated federal law and promoted harmful stereotypes about boys and girls. The Wood County Board of Education has agreed to abandon single-sex education for the next two school years, after which it must give the plaintiffs notice and seek permission from the court if it wishes to institute any single-sex program at any school in the district until the 2018-2019 school year. "We're glad that the school has agreed to cease this blatantly unlawful program," said Sarah Rogers, attorney with the ACLU of West Virginia. "Wood County's children deserve a quality education that values them as individuals, rather than one that promotes harmful stereotypes." The program at Van Devender separated students by sex on a mandatory basis for all core curriculum classes, and implemented strategies relying on overly broad sex-based generalizations that have never been proven to be effective in improving academic outcomes. As an example, boys were permitted to move about the classroom to expend energy, while girls were expected to sit quietly. A video of the principal posted online also described boys' classrooms as arranged with the students seated side-by-side, with brighter lighting, because "when they look each other in the eye it becomes more of a confrontational type thing. Girls . . . sit around tables, where they can make eye contact, where they can make relationships, and that sort of thing." A mother challenged the program after these practices negatively affected her daughters. One of the girls represented in the lawsuit was frequently reprimanded in class for her inability to sit still, despite the fact that she has attention deficit disorder. Another girl with poor vision struggled to read in the dimmer girls' classroom, while another girl was not permitted time to take notes during PowerPoint presentations because her teacher told her that girls are supposed to learn better through auditory, not visual, input. Her grades suffered as a result. "No child should struggle in school or be made to feel like they're abnormal just because they don't fit someone's idea of how boys or girls behave," said the mother, who has remained anonymous to protect her daughters' privacy. "Each of my daughters has a unique learning style and teachers should recognize that all students learn differently." "We all want to see improvement in our public schools, but co-education was never the problem at Van Devender, and discriminatory programs like these are not the solution," said Galen Sherwin, staff attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project. "We hope that the Wood County Board of Education will turn its attention in the future to educational interventions that have a proven record of working, rather than resorting to 'quick fixes' that promote sex stereotypes." In addition to forcing students into single-sex classes without parental consent, Van Devender offered no alternative to the single-sex classes, which meant that any family that wished to opt out would have to change schools altogether. In August 2012, a federal district court issued an order halting the program for the 2012-13 school year, noting that the school board's own expert said that educators at Van Devender had been "led astray" by proponents of single-sex education, based on a "pseudoscientific" theory claiming that boys' and girls' have different brains and learning styles. Today's settlement extends that cessation through 2014-15. "It's especially satisfying when pro bono cases not only benefit our clients, but also society," said Roxann Henry, a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster. "By safeguarding equal education rights, the outcome here does both."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@aclu.org CHICAGO 鈥� The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Wisconsin today asked the federal Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education to investigate single-sex programs in the Barron Area and Beloit School Districts in Wisconsin. The ACLU鈥檚 complaints, which followed an analysis of documents received through open records laws, contends that the programs appear to violate federal and state law by forcing students into a single-sex environment, relying on harmful gender stereotypes and depriving students of equal educational opportunities merely because of their sex. Programs in both districts trained teachers that boys should be allowed to move around the classroom during instruction, while girls should sit quietly; that they should tailor instructional materials and assignments toward stereotypical 鈥渂oys鈥� interests鈥� like sports and 鈥済irls鈥� interests鈥� like sharing feelings and, in the Barron Area example, discussing topics like cats, shopping and horses; and emphasized that they should speak to boys in a clear and assertive manner while smiling and speaking softly to girls. 鈥淲e all want children in Wisconsin to have a quality education, but tracking them into programs that promote stereotypes doesn鈥檛 help anyone,鈥� said Karyn Rotker, of the ACLU of Wisconsin. 鈥淲hatever the intentions of the educators who set up these programs, the disproven theories on which they rely actually limit opportunities for boys and girls alike.鈥� The complaints were filed against Riverview Middle School in Barron; and Robinson and McLenegan Elementary Schools in Beloit. Beloit School District has offered single-sex programs in two elementary schools in multiple subjects and in non-academic areas such as lunch and recess, since 2007. The Barron Area School District separated its fifth grade math and language arts classes by sex in 2011, and although it temporarily discontinued the program this year due to scheduling issues, the district has refused to respond to inquiries as to whether it will be halted permanently. The programs in both districts were heavily influenced by the ideas of Dr. Leonard Sax, whose theories on the supposed differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains are rooted in archaic stereotypes. For example, Dr. Sax has said that girls do badly under stress, so they should not be given time limits on a test; and that boys who like to read, do not enjoy contact sports and do not have a lot of close male friends should be firmly disciplined, required to spend time with 鈥渘ormal males鈥� and made to play sports. The school districts cited Sax鈥檚 discredited theory of differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains as its justification for single-sex education. These theories were recently debunked in an article authored by a multidisciplinary team of scientists in the prestigious journal Science, which argued that sex segregation does not improve academic performance, but does foster stereotypes. 鈥淭here is no solid evidence supporting the assertions about supposed differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains on which these programs are based, and there is absolutely no evidence that teaching boys and girls differently leads to any educational improvements,鈥� said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women鈥檚 Rights Project. 鈥淚t鈥檚 harmful for public schools to promote these types of generalizations about boys and girls鈥攑articularly with children who are so young.鈥� The ACLU鈥檚 letter demands that the OCR investigate and enforce federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex in schools and ensure that these programs are not implemented again. As part of the ACLU鈥檚 national 鈥淭each Kids, Not Stereotypes鈥� campaign, requests for public records were also sent this week to school districts in New Jersey, Texas, and California. A state administrative complaint was filed against a special education program in New Jersey. For more information and to view the letter, please visit: www.aclu.org/womens-rights/teach-kids-not-stereotypes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@aclu.org CHICAGO 鈥� The American Civil Liberties Union asked the federal Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education today to investigate three single-sex education programs in three schools in the Beloit and Barron School Districts in Wisconsin. Also this week, the ACLU sent open records requests to the Austin Independent School District in Texas and the Valley Charter School District in Modesto, California. An administrative complaint concerning a special education program was filed against the Cape May Regional School District in New Jersey. The ACLU complaints, which followed an analysis of documents received through open records laws, contend that the programs appear to violate federal and state law by forcing students into a single-sex environment, relying on harmful gender stereotypes and depriving students of equal educational opportunities merely because of their sex. 鈥淭here is no solid evidence supporting the assertions about supposed differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains that underlie these programs, and there is absolutely no evidence that teaching boys and girls differently leads to any educational improvements,鈥� said Galen Sherwin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Women鈥檚 Rights Project. 鈥淚t鈥檚 harmful for public schools to promote these types of generalizations about boys and girls鈥攑articularly at the elementary school level.鈥� The Wisconsin complaints were filed against Riverview Middle School in Barron; and Robinson and McLenegan Elementary Schools in Beloit. The programs trained teachers that boys should be allowed to move around the classroom during instruction, while girls should sit quietly; some encouraged tailoring instructional materials and assignments toward stereotypical 鈥渂oys鈥� interests鈥� like sports and 鈥済irls鈥� interests鈥� like sharing feelings; and some emphasized that they should speak to boys in a clear and assertive manner while smiling and speaking softly to girls. The programs were heavily influenced by the ideas of Dr. Leonard Sax, whose theories on the supposed differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains are rooted in archaic stereotypes. For example, Dr. Sax has said that girls do badly under stress, so they should not be given time limits on a test; and that boys who like to read, do not enjoy contact sports and do not have a lot of close male friends should be firmly disciplined, required to spend time with 鈥渘ormal males鈥� and made to play sports. The school districts cited Sax鈥檚 discredited theory of differences between boys鈥� and girls鈥� brains as its justification for single-sex education. These theories were recently debunked in an article authored by a multidisciplinary team of scientists in the prestigious journal Science, which argued that sex segregation does not improve academic performance, but does foster stereotypes. The ACLU demands that the OCR investigate and enforce federal laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex in schools and ensure that these programs are not implemented again. Today鈥檚 filing was the latest action in the ACLU鈥檚 national 鈥淭each Kids, Not Stereotypes鈥� campaign, a national effort to uncover information about sex stereotypes in single-sex education programs across the country. More information on the 鈥淭each Kids, Not Stereotypes鈥� campaign can be found here: www.aclu.org/womens-rights/teach-kids-not-stereotypes