Title IX Kentucky - Home

The purpose of this site is to shed light on the current state of gender equity in Kentucky’s high school athletics.

The key text of Title IX (of the Education Amendments of 1972, also known as the Patsy Mink Act) is:

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Despite significant progress since the law’s passage, and a similar state law passed in the 1990’s, there are still plenty of issues remaining in Kentucky’s high schools. The data show that state-wide participation in sports is 43.7% girls and 56.3% boys – an almost 12 point difference. Of the top 8 school districts in terms of enrollment, it is even worse; all 8 are below average in terms of sports participation by girls, with the participation rate right below 40% for girls. These 8 districts are: Jefferson County, Fayette County, Hardin County, Boone County, Kenton County, Bullitt County, Warren County, and Oldham County.

The data below comes from the annual gender equity reports filed by each high school with the KHSAA. It was acquired through Open Records requests and comes from the reports filed in the 2008-2009 school year. Additional Comments have been provided.

KHSAA gender equity data (download full report – 2.5 MB file)

The data is clear. Kentucky has a long way to go to achieve equity in sports. Here is a look at some of the data showing both the statewide numbers as well as the large school districts. A link to the full data set follows, showing school-by-school and district-by-district numbers.

Spending by Sport - State-wide
	Girls	Boys
Basketball	8,326,242	8,587,756
Softball	6,086,204
Baseball		6,578,554
Cross Country	1,109,340	1,106,456
Golf	790,526	913,230
Soccer	3,059,611	2,731,595
Swimming	676,458	638,713
Track	2,117,572	2,069,907
Tennis	952,287	921,035
Volleyball	3,398,488
Wrestling		1,216,153
Field Hockey	222,412
Football		13,228,125
Other	71,704	187,619

Spending by Category - State-wide
	Girls	Boys
Equipment	6,727,679	11,457,362
Travel	3,757,461	4,664,057	44.6%
Awards	831,820	1,178,067	41.4%
Coach Salaries	8,529,165	12,795,310	40.0%
Facilties	6,728,889	7,673,223	46.7%
Publicity	226,388	412,976	35.4%
Total	26,801,402	38,180,995

Percentages on right are percent of spending on girls.

Spending by Sport - Large district subtotal
	Girls	Boys
Basketball	1,195,786	1,237,029
Softball	858,744
Baseball		1,428,764
Cross Country	187,585	186,623
Golf	131,485	163,631
Soccer	711,965	660,405
Swimming	126,058	116,082
Track	446,742	430,381
Tennis	147,203	144,766
Volleyball	659,132
Wrestling		419,107
Field Hockey	140,056
Football		2,450,963
Other	37,236	22,821
Spending by Category - Large districts
	Girls	Boys
Equipment	1,222,208	2,289,530
Travel	651,471	815,197	44.4%
Awards	198,517	245,891	44.7%
Coach Salaries	1,814,882	2,762,012	39.7%
Facilties	691,850	1,043,723	39.9%
Publicity	29,434	70,244	29.5%
Total	4,608,362	7,226,597

Percentages on right are percent of spending on girls.

Title IX Kentucky’s Gender Equity Grade

State-wide

Participation	86
Added participation	89
Spending per student	86
Equipment	81
Coach salaries	84
Facilities	88
Travel	81
Publicity/Awards	67
Athlete-to-coach ratio	93
Final Score	86

Overall grade B-

Title IX Kentucky’s Gender Equity Grade

Large districts (top 8)

Participation	75
Added participation	78
Spending per student	78
Equipment	74
Coach salaries	91
Facilities	66
Travel	80
Publicity/Awards	72
Athlete-to-coach ratio	100
Final Score	79

Overall grade C-

Download the full data set. Note: This is a 2.5 megabyte file which can take a long time to download and a then a long time to open.

Our grading system

Our grading system awards a score of 100 for perfect equity, numbers below 100 when the advantage is to the boys and numbers above 100 when the advantage is to the girls. That way advantages in one category in favor of one gender can be canceled out by advantages in another category to the other gender.

The final score is a weighted average of the component scores, with the two participation scores counting 50% of the total. The reason for such heavy weighting for participation just comes down to the reality that when the opportunities and benefits provided are equivalent, the participation is equivalent. For instance, if the coach of a particular team is not such a good coach, the word gets around. This sort of thing rarely affects the avid athlete – he or she would play regardless of the coach. This only affects the kids on the margins, those who might or might not play. And when the kids know the coach isn’t so good, those on the margins choose not to participate. It isn’t just the coaching, of course. Many other factors come into play. But our reading of the data tells us the participation numbers tell the story more clearly than anything.