Single-Sex Education: Moving Forward or Turning Back the Clock?

June 2004 • Volume 2 • Issue 3

When education stakeholders talk about “school choice,” the usual suspects that come to mind are home schooling, charter schools, voucher programs and the like. But there’s another “choice” option that is beginning to figure more prominently on the national scene – single-sex education. While private and parochial schools have long had the freedom to separate the sexes by classroom or by school, public schools have been limited in doing so by Title IX.

For over 30 years, Title IX has existed to protect students from gender inequality both in the classroom and on the athletic playing field. At the time Title IX took effect, gender discrimination was a major concern in public education.