Panel Formed to Examine Title IX

WASHINGTON — A panel of sports professionals and educators will examine ways to improve the 30-year-old law that has greatly increased opportunities for women in school sports, Education Secretary Rod Paige told a Senate committee Thursday.

The new Commission on Opportunity in Athletics is being formed in the wake of a lawsuit that argues that the law, known as Title IX, helps women’s sports at the expense of programs for men.

“Some would like to settle this in the courts,” Paige said. “But we believe the better approach is to discuss all the questions openly, in a forum where all voices and all viewpoints can be heard. The members of this commission are on the front lines, facing the difficult issues in athletics every day.”

Paige said the 15-member commission will be headed by Cynthia Cooper, former WNBA All-Star who resigned as coach of the league’s Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, and Ted Leland, director of athletics at Stanford.