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U.S. GOVERNMENT 2: New Laws for Education Considered

Think about your classmates. Are they taller or shorter than you? What color hair and eyes do they have? Do you have both boys and girls in your class? If you attend public school, then your classes are probably co-ed, or made up of boys and girls. What would you think about being in a school that separated boys and girls? If you're a boy, you'd only have other boys in your class. If you're a girl, you'd be in a class full of girls only.

The Department of Education is proposing a change to its rules about schools. Since 1975, the laws have only allowed for the separation of boys and girls during gym class. Now they are contemplating allowing local districts to create a Boy’s High School and a Girl’s High School depending on their needs. Or, the school could offer a subject for only girls and not offer it to boys, or vice versa. For example, Earth Science could be a class only for girls or offered as a co-ed class for boy and girls, depending on which one the school thinks is best. This creates more flexibility. The school district could decide which classes (or schools) could separate the boys and girls and also decide which would remain co-ed.

Supporters of these new rules require that boys and girls still be treated equally when planning classes. Also, the students could choose if they wanted to be in a class with only their gender. Many private schools across America already separate boys and girls, and supporters feel that the Department of Education will be giving public schools the same benefits that private schools already enjoy.

--Written by Katheryn Troyer

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