1.This Act may be cited as the
High School Athletics Accountability
Act of 2011
.
2.
(a)The Congress finds as follows:
(1)Participation in
sports teaches youth critical life skills and has a significant positive impact
on all areas of their lives, especially for girls.
(2)Girls who participate in sports have higher
levels of confidence and self-esteem, lower levels of depression, are less
likely to be suicidal, are more likely to have a positive body image than
female non-athletes, and are half as likely to experience an unintended
pregnancy as compared to female non-athletes. Girls who participate in sports
have higher graduation rates, receive better grades, and are less likely to
smoke or use illegal drugs.
(3)Sports participation effectively combats
obesity, which is particularly significant given that one in six girls are
obese or overweight and African-Americans and Hispanic girls face even greater
risks.
(4)Despite advances
in athletic opportunities for women and girls since the passage of title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972, discrimination still limits athletic
opportunities for females in interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics.
Girls comprise 49 percent of the high school population, but receive only 41
percent of all interscholastic athletic participation opportunities nationwide.
This translates into 1,300,000 fewer opportunities to play high school sports
for girls than for boys. These lost participation opportunities also result in
the loss of athletic scholarships that make it possible for many girls and
young women to attend college.
(5)There is ample
evidence that girls’ teams often receive inferior benefits and services when
they do play, in areas such as overall budgets; travel; equipment; uniforms;
facilities, including locker rooms, fields, and practice and competitive
facilities; training and medical services; publicity; access to coaches; and
scheduling of practices, games, and sports seasons.
(6)Without
information about how athletic opportunities and benefits are being allocated
at the elementary and secondary school levels, students may be deprived of
opportunities to play sports and to receive athletic scholarships to attend
college.
(7)Students, parents,
and schools should be aware of the athletic opportunities and benefits
available to male and female students so that they can work to enhance athletic
opportunities for all and address any inequities.
(b)The
purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1)To ensure that information about the
allocation of athletic opportunities and benefits at the elementary and
secondary school levels is available to all students.
(2)To promote equal
opportunities for both boys and girls to engage in school-sponsored
athletics.
(3)To provide boys
and girls with equal access to the physical, psychological, health and other
benefits that result from playing sports.
3.Disclosure of
statistics on equality in athletic programsSubpart 2 of part E of title IX of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
9537.Equality in
athletic programs
(a)Each
coeducational elementary or secondary school that participates in any program
under this Act and has an athletic program, shall annually, for the immediately
preceding academic year, prepare a report that contains the following
information:
(1)The number of
students that attended the school and for each student an identification of
such student’s—
(A)sex;
(B)race; and
(C)ethnicity.
(2)A listing of the
teams that competed in athletic competition and for each such team the
following data:
(A)The total number
of participants as of the day of the first scheduled contest for the team, and
for each participant an identification of such participant’s—
(i)sex;
(ii)race; and
(iii)ethnicity.
(B)The year the team
began.
(C)The total
expenditures for each team from school and nonschool sources, including a
listing of the following data for each team:
(i)Expenditures for
travel.
(ii)Expenditures for
equipment (including any equipment replacement schedule).
(iii)Expenditures for
uniforms (including any uniform replacement schedule).
(iv)Expenditures for
facilities (including locker rooms, fields, and gymnasiums) and their
maintenance and repair.
(v)Expenditures for
training and medical facilities and services.
(vi)Expenditures for
publicity for competitions (including press guides, press releases, game
programs, and publicity personnel).
(D)The total number
of trainers and medical personnel, and for each trainer or medical personnel an
identification of such person’s—
(i)sex;
(ii)employment status
(including whether such person is employed full-time or part-time, and whether
such person is a head or assistant trainer or medical services provider) and
duties other than providing training or medical services; and
(iii)qualifications,
including whether the person is a professional or student.
(E)The total number
of coaches, and for each coach an identification of such coach’s—
(i)sex;
(ii)employment status
(including whether such coach is employed full-time or part-time, and whether
such coach is a head or assistant coach) and duties other than coaching;
and
(iii)qualifications,
including whether the person is a professional or student.
(F)Total annual
revenues generated by the team (including contributions from outside sources
such as booster clubs), disaggregated by source.
(G)The total number
of competitions scheduled, and for each scheduled competition an indication of
what day of the week and time the competition was scheduled.
(H)The total number
of practices scheduled, and for each scheduled practice an indication of what
day of the week and time the practice was scheduled.
(I)The season in
which the team competed.
(J)Whether such team
participated in postseason competition, and the success of such team in any
postseason competition.
(3)The average annual
institutional salary attributable to coaching of the head coaches of men’s
teams, across all offered sports, and the average annual institutional salary
attributable to coaching of the head coaches of women’s teams, across all
offered sports.
(4)The average annual
institutional salary attributable to coaching of the assistant coaches of men’s
teams, across all offered sports, and the average annual institutional salary
attributable to coaching of the assistant coaches of women’s teams, across all
offered sports.
(b)For the purpose of reporting the information described in
paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (a), if a coach has responsibilities for
more than 1 team and the school does not allocate such coach’s salary by team,
the school should divide the salary by the number of teams for which the coach
has responsibility and allocate the salary among the teams on a basis
consistent with the coach’s responsibilities for the different teams.
(c)Disclosure of
information to students and publicOn an annual basis, each
coeducational elementary or secondary school described in subsection (a)
shall—
(1)make available to
students, potential students, and the public, upon request, the information
contained in each report by the school under this section by October 15 of each
school year; and
(2)ensure that all
students at the school and members of the relevant community are informed of
their right to request such information.
(d)Submission;
information availabilityOn an annual basis, each coeducational
elementary or secondary school described in subsection (a) shall provide the
information contained in each report by the school under this section to the
Commissioner for Education Statistics not later than 15 days after the date
that the school makes such information available under subsection (c).
(e)Duties of
Commissioner for Education StatisticsThe Commissioner for
Education Statistics shall—
(1)ensure that the
data required under this section are posted on the Department of Education’s
Web site within a reasonable period of time; and
(2)not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of the High School Athletics Accountability Act of
2011, notify all elementary and secondary schools in all States
about the requirements under subsection (c) and issue guidance to all
elementary and secondary schools on how to collect and report the information
required under this
section.
.