Public schools are increasingly separating boys and girls in classes so that both sexes can learn better. Single-gender classes benefit students by eliminating distractions that arise in co-ed environments. The feminists and all who deny differences between boys and girls are fuming about this trend, but even liberal bastions such as Massachusetts seek to allow the separation of boys and girls in classrooms because it is often successful.

This trend began with all-boys and all-girls classes in a few public schools, but now many public schools are entirely all-boys or all-girls. This summer, Houston will open its first all-girls public high school. While there were only 11 single-gender public schools in the nation in 2002, the National Association for Single Sex Public Education states that, remarkably, there are now 518.

This trend received a big boost when the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in 2006 amended its Title IX rules to allow single-gender classes in public schools, provided certain conditions are met. The first condition is that an equivalent co-ed class be offered in the same subject. The second condition is that the objectives of these classes shall be "(a) to improve educational achievement of its students through an established policy to provide diverse educational opportunities if the single-sex nature of the class is substantially related to achieving that objective, or (b) to meet the particular, identified educational needs of its students, provided that the single-sex nature of the class is substantially related to achieving that objective."

Evidently this is too politically INcorrect for the ACLU and the feminists. The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the all-boys and all-girls public school classes, but a federal judge dismissed part of it. In A.N.A. v. Breckinridge County Bd. of Educ., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26198 (W.D. Ky. Mar. 27, 2009), the ACLU challenged the DOE regulation allowing single-gender classes offered by a Kentucky school district during the 2007-2008 school year. The ACLU claimed that Breckinridge County's single-gender classes, and the DOE regulation allowing them, unlawfully segregated children by gender, resulting in unequal education.

The court granted a motion by the DOE to dismiss the claims against it. "While Title IX creates an implied right of action against educational institutions who receive federal funds, there is no corresponding private right of action against the government." But this defeat of the ACLU does not end the lawsuit; its claims against the Kentucky school district still remain alive. Indeed, a few days later, the same court granted a motion by the ACLU to certify this as a "class action lawsuit," supposedly on behalf of many students affected by the single-gender policy.

Single-gender classes allow teachers to tailor curricula more closely to the needs of their students. Class time tends to be more productive because students are quieter and less distracted around peers of the same sex. The court's decision to dismiss this claim against the DOE will allow many schools nationwide to continue enjoying the benefits of single-gender education.

If only a court would allow an all-boys or all-girls class to say a prayer, which the ACLU also insists on prohibiting, then there would really be change for the better!