Inquiry Focuses on All-Female Math Classes

Federal civil rights investigators have launched an inquiry into whether all-girl math classes at two Ventura schools discriminate against boys, a move that may bode ill for the future of a program that has won nationwide attention.

Ventura school officials said they learned Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights received a complaint alleging that female-only math classes at Ventura High School and Anacapa Middle School are discriminatory.

Federal investigators have declined as a matter of policy to identify the person who objected to the Ventura program.

And Ventura school officials said they have no idea who complained, adding that parents have shown strong support for the single-sex math classes that were begun last year.

“This is just totally out of the blue,” said Ventura High math teacher Christine Mikles, who organized the all-girl classes to boost female students’ performance in advanced math.

Federal civil rights laws require that all public school classes, except in sex education, be open to students of both sexes.

Pat Chandler, assistant superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District, said school officials will point out to federal investigators that neither Ventura High nor Anacapa bars boys from enrolling in the girls’ classes.

Indeed, one Ventura High advanced math class that is set up specifically for girls has one male student this year.

“The classes are open to all students,” Chandler said.

And Ventura school officials have another argument for keeping the girls-only math classes: They work.

Pointing to studies that show girls’ interest in math dwindles as they get older, Mikles and like-minded educators say female students often feel intimidated by male classmates and get less attention from teachers.

In the past, far fewer girls than boys at Ventura High took trigonometry or other higher-level math courses.

But the number of girls enrolled in trigonometry has grown from 28 last year to 51--a change Mikles attributes to the success of the two female-only Algebra II classes offered last year.

Buoyed by such success, the school now offers one girls-only class in Algebra II, geometry and trigonometry.

At Anacapa, the number of girls-only math classes has also increased--from two last year to three.

Teacher Pam Belitski said parents whose daughters are in girls-only classes have noticed their children are enjoying math much more.

“The biggest difference is in their confidence,” she said.