Slaughter revives bill to shed light on schools’ funding for girls sports
WASHINGTON—Rep. Louise M. Slaughter is hoping that a president with two young daughters can help accomplish what she has been trying to do for years: pass a bill aimed at prodding high schools to spend money on girls sports.
For years, Slaughter has been pushing legislation that would require high schools to publish how many male and female students take part in organized sports and how much schools spend on their sports teams.
“We’re going to get this passed this year,” the Fairport Democrat said Tuesday as women’s groups began a new push for the bill. “I think the entire Obama administration will make a difference.”
The Bush administration was uninterested in the legislation, which languished in the Senate for years despite support in the House.
The bill doesn’t aim to require schools to spend money on girls athletics, but by making the districts release their spending figures, light would be shed on those that give short shrift to girls sports.
“This transparency would go a long way in making school districts accountable,” Slaughter said.
Women’s groups pushing the legislation include the National Women’s Law Center, the American Association of University Women and the Women’s Sports Foundation.
They were joined at a Capitol Hill news conference by former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes. Noting that 1 in 6 young girls is obese, Dawes said: “If young girls are given the opportunity to play sports, they would learn about physical health.”
Slaughter acknowledged never having the opportunity to play sports when she was in school.
“I grew up in Kentucky,” she said, “where there wasn’t much expected of us except to clean up.”
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