Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 declared that women should have equal access to education as men. It states: "No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid."

The law bans sexual discrimination in schools the receive federal aid. Before it took effect in '72, 9 percent of the medical degrees and 7 percent of the law degrees in the country went to women. Now the totalsare approaching 40 percent for medicine and 50 percent for law.

This piece of federal legislation covered not only academic programs but also athletics. One thing Title IX does is govern access to athletic scholarships, with one of the factors to consider being gender balance -- or gender ration. The goal of Title IX in the athletic sphere is to provide equal opportunities for women as men based on the amount of scholarship money given.

In the three decades since Title IX became the law of the land, females have made enormous strides in athletic participation on the high school level, which feeds the college level that is govern by the legislation. Before the historic law went into effect, only 290,000 girls played high school sports. Today more than 1.9 million girls participate in prep sports.

American society has always favored male over female sports, and it probably always will. However, women's sports are on the climb in terms of popularity, and Title IX is largely responsible for this increased interest in participating in sports by females.

The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, have put tennis in the spotlight -- just as Mia Hamm had already done with soccer. Now more and more young girls are choosing to play tennis. Academies for one-sport athletes like the famous Nick Bolliteri tennis academy in Brandeton, Fla., are springing up the country, and girls are enrolling in them at high levels.

The longest current streak in the nation for consecutive state championships is held by the Carmel High School girls' swimming team in Carmel, Ind. The Carmel girls have won 17 straight IHSAA championships.

However, they have relatively low attendance. This is often the reality in the world of women's athletics. High levels of success do not necessary mean high levels of fan interest.

HiLite, Carmel High's student newspaper, ran a story about three fans that show up to every girls' soccer match. The sad part is that they are usually the only fans at a Carmel match.

Here is the catch: the girls' soccer team at Carmel is the best team in the state. It gets better all the time. It was ranked first in the nationa last season. Yet no one comes to its home games because women's sports are perceived to be more boring than men's. The perception is that no matter how good the best female athletes may be, they are not generally as physically gifted as the best male athletes -- and that the difference remains rather large.

Some men feel offended that women have as many sports in high school and college as men do. The significant dropoff of men's wrestling and swimming programs on the college level have been indirectly effected by Title IX.

But the goal of gender equity was the reason the bill came through the Nixon administration. It was put into law so that women could have the same rights as men do on the high school and collegiate level.

Title IX was the appropriate decision, even if it has had some unintended side effects. The Bush administration had a chance to change it this summer and passed on the opportunity.

So there is nothing high schools can do about it. It should not change, and it will not change.

Title IX is here to stay.