One of the really disturbing trends of late is the movement back toward segregated schooling by gender, thanks to loosening of regulations by the Bush administration, which I have said before is probably unconstitutional. So, I am happy to report, thanks to a tip from Kevin Welner, that the ACLU of Alabama was effective in ridding 10 school districts of single-sex classes. Here is the rationale offered by one of the districts:
"a writing prompt for a boy may be what place in the world he would most like to go hunting or drive on a race track where the girls may write about their dream wedding dress or their ideal birthday party."
Thankfully, the district has agreed to end this practice. Unfortunately, there is still a lawsuit pending on the same issue in Kentucky. But, I do sort of hope that one of these cases makes it to at least the appellate level so we can reinforce the notion that segregated schooling is inherently unequal.