Feds target ‘sex stereotypes’ in US classrooms

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Obama administration is moving to outlaw public school curriculum establishing single-sex classrooms, where boys are taught about bikes and girls are quizzed about bracelets.

The Education Department issued guidance this month to clarify George W. Bush-era regulations that expanded the use of gender-specific education. 

Groups have increasingly questioned the legality of education policies that have cropped up in the years since the 2006 rule was enacted.  

“As we receive increasing inquiries about single-sex offerings we want to be clear what federal law allows: protect civil rights and promote achievement,” Catherine Lhamon, the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a news release. 

Civil rights groups say they hope the guidance will put an end to unproven practices that have been creeping up across the country.

Lara Kaufmann, senior counsel and director of education policy for at-risk students with the National Women’s Law Center, criticized programs that she said rely on “sex stereotypes” and “unfounded theories” that boys and girls are so inherently different that they can’t learn the same way. 

The different teaching techniques being employed in core classes at K-12 co-ed schools, advocates say, violate Title IX, a law passed in 1972 requiring general equality for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding.'