ARMCHAIR ACTIVISM By Kathy Papst

There are ways to be active with AAUW even if you don’t have a lot of time to be involved or are not on the Board of Directors. The last event of the year will be the May meeting where we will vote for the next Board for 2024/2025. There is a break after that for the summer, but I encourage our members to keep our mission in your mind over the summer months. Both the national and state websites have ways to keep abreast of what is happening with legislation and continued efforts with equity for women and girls. This is an ongoing effort because those who oppose our efforts to achieve equity do not take a break from their efforts to thwart equity for 50 % of the population.

Both the national and state websites have ways to support legislation that AAUW supports without spending a lot of time. I am a member of the “Two Minute Activist” where you can support efforts to pass laws that AAUW is actively involved with. One would think that this doesn’t have much clout, but having thousands of members who make their voice heard really makes our Congress and Senate members take notice.

It only takes “two minutes” to look at the legislation that helps assist change for future generations while sitting at home. All you need to do is go to AAUW.ORG and click on Two Minute Activist and sign your name in support for upcoming laws that may change the future for all women. There is a message that you can sign or you can add your own additional message to tell why you feel that this legislation is so important. Even if you do not do this, please keep reading and listening to news outlets that keep you informed with the latest news on women’s issues for our children and grandchildren’s future.

***From the AAUW California Public Policy Committee:
Please click <here> for the April issue of Public Policy News. This issue contains the article “AAUW California Public Policy Committee Sets 2024 Legislative Agenda” for inclusion in your branch newsletters.

AAUW PRIORITIES By Kathy Papst

“Title IX – What Is It and Why Is It Important?”

AAUW was instrumental in championing and supporting legislation for equality for women and girls in schools, colleges and universities, which led to the passage of TITLE IX in 1972. This important law was established “to ensure that male and female students and employees in educational settings that receive federal funding are treated equally and fairly”. It protects against discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment.

This law fundamentally changed how schools treat girls in the academic setting, but also in high school and especially collegiate sports programs. This law forced schools to change both funding and opportunities for equal involvement in sports programs. Before this law was enacted, the NCAA (National College Athletic Association) reported that women’s sports were only 2 percent of the budget for all sports programs in colleges and universities. This includes both participation in and scholarships for athletic endeavor.

At first, there was considerable opposition from administrations and coaches. Many of them felt that if they were to give women equal share in sports funding, then it would force schools to severely reduce or even eliminate some men’s programs. Rules were established for how the funding would reach the goals of equality and has been a tremendous success.

Is TITLE IX still relevant? The 50^th anniversary of this legislation was celebrated on June 23, 2022. TITLE IX is much more than athletics. This legislation affects all aspects of education, including, for example:

• Recruiting and admissions
• Career and technical education
• Comparable facilities and course offerings
• Financial assistance
• Student health and insurance benefits
• Sexual harassment and assault
• Harassment based on gender identity

In 2024 TITLE IX’s work is not done. In recent years, the Department of Education has worked to dismantle many of the TITLE IX protections, including harassment and violence. AAUW encourages support for the GEEA (GENDER EQUITY IN EDUCATION ACT), which would provide, in part, TITLE IX coordinators the resources, training, and technical assistance necessary to ensure that TITLE IX protections are not further eroded. It also would establish an Office of Gender Equity in the Department of Education.

For further information, please go to both the national and California websites. There is a fact sheet on the national website, published in 2022 with the history and developments over the last 50 years of this landmark law. I would like to encourage our members to educate yourselves regarding issues of the ongoing work for equality for women and girls. If you wish to do more, please contact Kathy Papst (my contact information can be found in the Membership Directory) and I will help you to become involved at the branch level to contribute and support this and other Public Policy issues. Thank you.

HOW TO GET THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT PUBLISHED By Liz Jordan

Last October, the Sacramento and CHAR branches held a joint meeting about Reproductive Rights and the Equal Rights Amendment.  We are not alone in believing that the Dobbs Decision in 2022 probably would not, could not, have happened, if the ERA, RATIFIED in January 2020, had been published in the Constitution.  The President, through the Attorney General, instructed the Archivist to not publish the ERA as the 28^th Amendment.

We shouldn’t have to beg for fundamental rights, and we shouldn’t have to fight for 100 years for basic equality!  It’s time for action, not excuses.

This year, the ERA Coalition, a coalition of more than 300 rights organizations of which AAUW is a member, has taken the stand that 100 years to wait is long enough.  They have a new campaign “Not One More!”  Recently, they started a companion campaign “Shouting for Equality.”  They are asking all of us who care, to call the U. S. Archivist, Colleen Shogan, to tell her it’s time to officially add the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.  Here are the Coalition’s instructions:

Call into the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) general line asking the Archivist to publish the ERA. Please be polite and respectful in your language. We have a sample script for you below!

Call the Archivist directly at 202-357-5900 and leave the following message:

This message is for the U.S. Archivist. My name is …{your name}… and I’m calling from {your state}. I would like to ask you to do your duty and publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment. The ERA has fulfilled the requirements set forth in Article V of the Constitution, and we can wait no longer for full constitutional protections. Thank you!

NOTE:  Call Monday-Friday.  The Archives do not take messages on weekends or Federal Holidays.

Also, for more information about these campaigns or to learn more about why the ERA is languishing in political limbo go to https://eracoalition.org; https://equalmeansequal.com; https://www.equalrightsamendment.org