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AAUW MISSION STATEMENT AAUW advances equity for all women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. |
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For information about upcoming Lilly Ledbetter’s visit to Arizona and Fair Pay, please click here. Contact Arizona Senators about Fair Pay BillOur State President has written to request that all members contact our senators about Fair Pay. The bill has gone to the Senate. Please call both senators: Kyl 202-224-4521 McCain 202-224-2235 We requested that you support this last summer. At that time it was suggested that you use your cell phone as it is a long distance call. Leave the message that you request the senator to support the Paycheck Fairness Act (S.182). For more information, go to www.aauw.org Help Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and MathOn Nov. 23, President Barack Obama announced the establishment of National Lab Day, an effort supported by AAUW and more than 200 other organizations representing over 6.5 million science, technology, engineering and math professionals and teachers. Now is the time to get involved! Are you a math, science, or engineering teacher? Are you a professional scientist, engineer, college student, or professor? If so, National Lab Day is for you. Visit the National Lab Day website at www.nationallabday.org/groups/aauw to join in this exciting new initiative. While National Lab Day is tentatively scheduled for early May 2010, it is more than just a day. It's a nationwide movement to bring together science, technology, engineering, and math professionals and teachers to provide high-quality, hands-on, lab experiences for students. It's about all of us working together to give children access to well-equipped labs and to the professionals who can inspire them. AAUW members and supporters are critical to the success of National Lab Day. These projects will be teacher driven. Teachers can partner with outside experts to work to assess current labs, update or refurbish lab equipment, conduct equipment and materials inventory, or clean and repair equipment. Or you can elect to have professionals work with you to: · implement hands-on projects · start a fundraising effort to buy needed supplies · help with science fairs · mentor a student · coordinate and host field trips · provide internship opportunities · donate materials · assist with lesson plans Projects can also center on computer or outdoor labs-anywhere where hands-on lessons in these subjects can come alive. These are just a few of the suggestions, and many more can be found at www.nationallabday.org/projects/all. In addition, we will need the help of professional scientists, engineers, and college students and professors. These volunteers will engage in activities with teachers. There are many ways for professionals to be involved such as: · find, donate, or repair equipment · implement hands-on projects · help with science fairs · mentor a student · chaperone field trips · provide internship opportunities · donate materials · help with lesson plans · be an advisor for an after-school program Take Action! To participate, simply visit www.nationallabday.org/groups/aauw and click on "teachers" or "scientists and engineers." Then fill out the form. Please select American Association of University Women (AAUW) as the professional organization. You can also see what projects have already been entered at www.nationallabday.org/projects/all. If you are a volunteer, this is a great way to sign up for already existing projects. If you are a teacher, click on projects to get ideas about the types of projects teachers are doing. Attracting women and girls to these fields is critical to U.S. competitiveness. If women and members of other traditionally underrepresented groups joined the science, engineering, technology, and math workforce in proportion to their representation in the overall labor force, the shortage of these professionals would disappear. Although women make up half of the workforce, they only comprise 25 percent of the labor force in science, engineering and technology fields. AAUW urges you to join the cause at www.nationallabday.org/groups/aauw to help break through barriers for women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math.
**********Know the Score in Your Local High Schools
Wednesday, Feb. 3 is National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and event that celebrates the participation, success and accomplishments of girls and women in athletics. In honor of this day, join AAUW in urging your member of Congress to enforce Title IX in our high schools and strengthen its protections.
Two bills, the High School Sports Information Collection Act (S. 471) and the High School Athletics Accountability Act (H.R. 2882), would do just that. These bills would make participation rates and expenditures for high school athletes available to the public, helping communities better enforce Title IX.
Title IX, the federal legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, is one of the country's greatest success stories. AAUW was instrumental in the passage of Title IX in 1972, which has since led to a 400 percent increase in the rate of female participation in college sports and a more than 800 percent increase in participation at the high school level. Female athletes are more likely to develop positive school and lifestyle habits. High school girls who participate in sports are less likely to experience an unintended pregnancy or to smoke or use illicit drugs, while they are more likely to have a positive body image than girls who don't play sports.
Despite the significant gains girls and women have made since the enactment of Title IX, a significant drawback to the law's enforcement at the high school level involves the lack of data reporting. While it is estimated that female students receive 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than do male students, the U.S. Department of Education does not require high schools to make athletic opportunity, participation, and funding statistics publicly available, even though they already collect this data. Colleges are required to report this data, it's time our high schools are too.
Take Action! It's time we know the score of Title IX in America's high schools. To urge your senators to cosponsor the High School Sports Information Collection Act, just copy and paste the following URL into your Internet browser. Then follow the instructions to compose and send your message. http://capwiz.com/aauw/issues/alert/?alertid=13561506
Find out if the high schools in your area are in compliance with Title IX. The AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund's new Program in a Box, Title IX Compliance: Know the Score, provides AAUW members with the tools you need to find out if your local high schools are Title IX compliant -- and what you can do if they are not. See all the tools available on AAUW's new Know the Score web page. http://www.aauw.org/member_center/programs/TitleIXCompliance.cfm .
**********National AAUW’s Public Policy ResourcesTwo-Minute Activist. It takes just two minutes to make your voice heard to members of Congress -one minute to read, one minute to act! AAUW members can also find detailed information on legislation currently under consideration in Congress. Just visit http://capwiz.com/aauw/home/
Action Alert. This monthly publication provides an overview of Congressional or Executive Branch action on AAUW priority issues. Action Alert is available free for members online in the Member Center. Action Alert is mailed to individual subscribers for $20 for AAUW members and $25 for nonmembers. Member Center
Position papers. AAUW compiles current information and advocacy resources on issues related to our current public policy priorities in order to provide resource pages that offer the freshest information and most effective avenues for action on issues important to you. For updated position papers on AAUW's priority issues, click Position Papers
AAUW Congressional Voting Record. AAUW members have a long history of lobbying Congress and holding their legislators accountable for how they vote on AAUW priority issues. The AAUW Voting Record informs AAUW members of positions taken by their senators and representatives on AAUW's federal legislative priorities. Copies of the voting record for the previous year's Congress are available on the AAUW website.
Washington Update is AAUW's free, members-only weekly e-bulletin. It offers an insider's view on the legislative process, the latest policy news, resources for advocates, programming ideas, and updates from the Public Policy and Government Relations Department. To stay up-to-date on all issues important to our mission, all AAUW members, including college and university partners, are encouraged to subscribe to Washington Update by emailing VoterEd@aauw.org.
Visit AAUW's blog, AAUW Dialog, to share your thoughts on current news and events and the way they relate to AAUW's mission. Read the 2009-11 AAUW Public Policy Program. Become a member of AAUW, and join a powerful network of educated women.
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