The U.S. Department of Education declared today that schools
must provide students with disabilities a fair opportunity to participate in athletic activities.
Although the Department of Education does not foresee
immediate dramatic changes, the new guidelines should probe schools to make
adjustments and open doors for the students who have been—despite the
previously existing ant-discrimination laws—precluded from participation.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) already
prohibits the exclusion of persons with disability from programs and activities
at federally funded institutions. But the Department of Education’s Office of
Civil Rights (OCR) took a step further today and provided specific examples on
how institutions should ensure that they accommodate students with
disabilities.
The OCR stated that the letter does not “add requirements to
applicable law, but provides information and examples to inform recipients
[school officials] about how OCR evaluates whether covered entities are
complying with their legal obligations” (See full letter here.)
Arne
Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, wrote on his blog
that students with disabilities are often excluded from sports based on incorrect
judgments, generalizations and stereotypes. “This is simply wrong,” Duncan
wrote.
The letter requires school officials to make “reasonable
modifications” to ensure that students with disabilities have equal opportunity
to participate in sports.
According to Gregg Toppo’s article
for USA Today, the letter was long
overdue—particularly because a report from 2010 indicated that students with
disabilities participated in athletics at substantially lower rates than
students without disabilities. The clarification on how to enforce positive
change was, thus, in order.
Some activist compared the enforcement initiatives to Title
IX, an education amendment that prohibits discrimination based on sex. Title IX
is credited with the tremendous increase of athletic opportunities for women
and a cultural shift about women’s place in sports.
“This is a landmark moment for students with disabilities.
This will do for students with disabilities what Title IX did for women. This
is a huge victory,” Terri
Lakowski, who has been heavily involved with coalition building and
education around civil rights issues, told the Associated Press.
The Women’s
Sports Foundation announced that this letter is actually a “direct result
of Title IX.”
It might take some time to enforce the structural changes. But
a legislative boost might eventually result in a more inclusive sporting
environment and increased participation for the students who are relegated to
the margins in our society.
Perhaps increased opportunities will also eventually
challenge the way we think about sport in our culture. Perhaps, such change
will also encourage us to re-think the values we associate with sport—the values
that contributed to the subjugation of many.
-- Dunja Antunovic
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