Ventura’s All-Girl Math Classes Investigated After Bias Charge
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 disclose 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 first offered 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 math.
Federal civil rights laws require that all public school classes, except sex education, be open to students of both sexes.
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