Gender Equity Act

Suzanne Fields maligns the Gender Equity Act and the American Assn. of University Women (“Pork for the Female Chauvinist Pigs,” Commentary, Sept. 29) for daring to want girls to receive an equal education. Fortunately her rhetoric was unconvincing to Congress and the act received final passage today (Oct. 5.)

Educators and parents recognize that despite the gains girls and women have made in recent years, they have not achieved equality in significant ways such as the earning power of their education. Even with a college education, a woman earns, on the average, only as much as a man with a high school diploma. Much of the comparative income gains women have made in recent years are because men’s salaries have gone down.

The AAUW seeks substantive answers to the continued disparity and has found them in the classroom. “How Schools Shortchange Girls” summarizes over 1,300 research studies to report that girls receive less qualitative and quantitative attention in the classroom.

If our country is to flourish in the 21st Century, we need a well-educated work force of both women and men. The Gender Equity Act will provide the resources schools and teachers need to assure all students an equal stake in the future.

SHARON SCHUSTER

Past President, AAUW

Woodland Hills

Fields quotes some woman from some group called the Independent Women’s Forum who claimed the overwhelming support from both parties for the Gender Equity Act is based on “untenable data.” What data is that? The fact that females are the only group in America to begin school testing ahead and leave having fallen far behind? Or perhaps the SAT data? That boys typically receive scores a meaningful 50 to 60 points higher than girls on this critical exam, which is required for admission to most colleges and often determines admittance? Untenable data? I think not.

We have a serious gender equity problem in our schools and, contrary to Fields’ supposition, it goes far beyond any low self-esteem reporting. The Gender Equity Act is a welcomed step in trying to solve a difficult problem that seriously shortchanges half the population in our schools.

JENNIFER HORSMAN

Laguna Beach