Wrapping up legislation from the previous week, ASUI voted unanimously to support the implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Idaho Constitution. The amendment aims to provide greater protection from sex-based discrimination within the state.
According to the resolution authored by Director of Legislative Affairs Lydia McRoberts, the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment would prevent a potential setback in women’s rights by providing a legal defense in the U.S. Constitution. Under the current language in the U.S. Constitution, the right to vote remains the only right that is explicitly affirmed to apply equally to men and women.
ASUI’s resolution asserts that, if passed, the amendment would allow for existing legislation such as the Equal Pay Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, as well as Title VII and Title IX protections to be more effectively upheld in court.
“Although there are laws enacted in Idaho protecting women…without the Equal Rights Amendment, discrimination is harder to prove in Idaho courts,” Sen. Martha Smith said.
The amendment, which comes from a Senate Joint Resolution by Idaho Sen. Melissa Wintrow, would confirm the right to freedom from sex-based discrimination if approved by Idaho voters.
In new legislation, Director of Safety, Health and Wellness Abbey Rode introduced a resolution that would bring an end to the ACT and SAT within the university admissions process.
“(Students) should not be forced into taking an out-of-date and discriminatory standardized college admissions test,” Sen. Crowley said, adding that GPA was a far better gauge for knowledge and work ethic as evidenced by the university’s own Go Idaho! Scholarship Program.
Go Idaho! is based on high school GPA, rather than standardized testing scores.
The concern for how these standardized tests present an unnecessary class barrier was presented among the primary concerns within the resolution. Since not all states cover the cost of standardized testing, students can be asked to pay $90 in addition to their application fees to take the test.
In the case of students with unreliable access to transportation, the tests can also put them at a disadvantage when test hosting sites are in neighboring cities and towns.
Additional concerns arise when one considers the disparate racial outcomes from these tests. According to the Brookings Institution, the average SAT math score of Black students is 90 points lower than the average white student, a disparity the resolution declares as evidence of the tests’ unreliability as a measure of college readiness.
“Grade point average is a long-term measure of effort and competency while the ACT and SAT are just a short glimpse of what resources were available to students at the time,” Sen. Smith said, adding that the cost for test preparations is just another roadblock for low-income students.
Whether ASUI makes the decision to call on the university to permanently remove the ACT and SAT from admission considerations is expected to be decided in the coming week.
Royce McCandless can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @roycemccandless