Women's Educational Equity Act


The Women's Educational Equity Act of 1974 is one of the several landmark laws passed by the United States Congress outlining federal protections against the gender discrimination of women in education. WEEA was enacted as Section 513 of P.L. 93-380. Introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaii, the legislation was conceived and drafted by Arlene Horowitz, a staff assistant to the education subcommittee on which Mink served. WEEA was intended to combat sex-role stereotyping in elementary and secondary schools.
In 1982, Leslie Wolfe, WEEA's director when Ronald Reagan was elected to the U.S. presidency, was transferred out of that position and people aligned with Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum were brought in to review grant proposals being considered for WEEA funds. In 1984, Congress to rewrote the WEEA legislation making its mission and purpose more explicit and therefore keeping its actions true to its original goal.
During the Reagan Administration, the assistant secretary of education, Jean Benish, implemented a review process which included all walks of people and provided a fair and equitable grant review process which was all-inclusive of women's issues. In 1984, Congress rewrote the WEEA legislation making its mission and purpose more explicit.
In 2003, the George W. Bush administration ended federal funds for WEEA's Resource Center, a mechanism for collection and sharing of information about gender equity programs.
The last documented funding for WEEA was in 2010. For the fiscal year 2018, the President's budget does not request funding for WEEA.