The feds are ordering schools across the country to make "reasonable" changes to sports programs so that disabled students can play -
or else create separate teams for them.
The new guidance from the Education Department issued Friday was hailed by advocates for the disabled but denounced by a conservative think-tank that said it could cost big bucks for cash-strapped schools.
"We think it's huge and historic. In my opinion it could have the same effect, if properly implemented, as Title IX did for women," said Kirk Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA.
Title IX required schools to offer girls and boys the same athletic opportunities and resulted in a huge uptick in female participation in school sports after it took effect 40 years ago.
The
new order from the Education Department says athletics is also a civil right for the disabled and schools that don't protect it could lose federal funding.
Under the latest rules, schools must tweak traditional programs to give qualified disabled students a shot at playing as long as they can do it without fundamentally changing the sport or giving anyone an advantage.
For instance, a visual aid instead of a starter pistol for the deaf runner would be easy to implement, while adding a fifth base to a baseball field to shorten running distances would be considered too big a change.
If alterations to a traditional team aren't feasible, schools must create a sports program that is open to disabled students, the order says. If there aren't enough students, schools should seek to create district-wide, regional or mixed-gender programs.
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