The New York City Board of Education and many of the district’s vocational-technical high schools continue to discriminate on the basis of sex despite federal and state anti-discrimination laws, charge the authors of a new report.
In interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, the Full Access and Rights to Education (fare) Coalition found that training opportunities for young women remain “extremely limited” in the district, with most female vocational students enrolled in the five high schools offering training for jobs traditionally held by women.
The fare Coalition is a New York City-based advocacy group made up of individuals and organizations concerned with the promotion of equal opportunity for women in edu-cation and employment.
In the report, “Inch by Inch: A Progress Report on Equal Opportunity for Young Women in New York City’s Vocational High Schools,” Rhoda Schulzinger and Lisa Syron assail the board of education for failing to provide the necessary leadership to eliminate sex discrimination systemwide.
“The board has made promises to end sex segregation, but so far we’ve seen a lot of talk and not much action,” writes Ms. Schulzinger in a prepared statement accompanying the report.
The report recommends that the board implement a long-range, comprehensive plan to integrate by sex all vocational high schools and programs.
Copies of the 66-page report, a follow-up to fare’s initial study of the problem in 1982, are available for $6 from fare Coalition, c/o Center for Public Advocacy Research Inc., 12 West 37th St., New York, N.Y. 10018.
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