Eliminate NYC School Dress Code Bias, Says Park Slope Councilman

PARK SLOPE, NY — A school protest by the daughter of Park Slope’s city councilman indirectly led to proposals that could change student dress codes citywide.

Councilman Brad Lander on Thursday called for schools to eliminate gender-biased dress codes. It's a change his daughter and her classmates accomplished for their own school through collective protests about four years ago, he said.

"She was certainly the first person to call it to my attention," he said.

Don't discount the issue, Lander said.

A recent study by Girls For Gender Equity detailed a patchwork of dress codes across 100 city schools that overwhelmingly targeted feminized clothing.

Those codes not only shame girls for their appearance, but particularly affect youth of color, transgender and gender non-conforming students, the report argued.

Lander said that helps create a pervasive gender bias and fosters and said his resolution calls on the city's Department of Education to develop proactive, inclusive and genuinely positive guidance for schools to create dress codes.

He noted federal law already prohibits gendered language in dress codes.

"And yet that is not the case in many schools,” he said.

The Girls For Gender Equity study found numerous examples. Fifty-five schools banned crop tops, for instance.

Lander said the city council doesn't have the legal authority to create dress codes. But he said it can require schools report their dress codes and how they enforce them — two planks of legislation he also introduced Thursday.

"When you have the data you can see whether or not you have the bias," he said.