ABSTRACT
In 2008, the Florida state legislature, by a nearly unanimous vote, rushed the passage of a statute that allowed sex segregation in public school classrooms.1 According to the version of the bill that passed through the Florida House, sex-segregated public school classrooms would be an expansion of school choice, and would be implemented only voluntarily. The Florida bill follows a national trend, coming on the heels of a 2004 federal provision. Early in 2009 it was reported in the New York Times that 445 sex-segregated classrooms and 95 sex-segregated public schools have arisen nationwide for the purpose of solving “sagging test scores and behavioral problems.”2 This trend is happening despite a 1991 Supreme Court decision in Garrett v. Board of Education where the court decided that single-sex classrooms violated the Fourteenth Amendment. That case, however, was in response to proposals to establish public schools for African American males in Detroit in order to resolve “self-esteem” issues, and the girls’ parents combined with National Organization of Women (NOW) advocates filed the complaint, arguing that there was no evidence that single-sex classrooms cured self-esteem issues in African American males.3 There is still no evidence today, though the argument continues to be used, but now by NOW and for girls.
