What if your local high school announced that it had regrettably been forced to eliminate its varsity boys' track & field, soccer, wrestling and cross-country teams because not enough girls were participating in varsity sports? Sound inconceivable? It is not if the federal government's current approach to enforcing the landmark gender equity in education law, Title IX, is not modified.     Last Sunday night, the CBS " Sixty Minutes " program led off with a story profiling the current debate surrounding the enforcement of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in educational programs. Specifically, the program considered the question of whether the federal government's approach to enforcing Title IX actually encourages colleges and universities to eliminate athletic programs and opportunities for boys. The heart of this controversy is not Title IX, but rather the so-called "proportionality" test created by the federal bureaucrats as the "safe harbor" for determining whether the athletic programs of a college or university are in compliance with Title IX.  To meet the "proportionality " test, the number of girls and boys participating in the athletic program of an institution must be substantiallyproportional to the number of girls and boys enrolled at such college or university.     For example, the University of Georgia, which has an undergraduate student body that is approximately 57% girls and 43% boys, must have 57% of its varsity athletes comprised of females in order to meet the proportionality test.  The widespread problem that has arisen is that compliance with the proportionality test is being achieved by eliminating sports programs and opportunities for boys rather than adding opportunities for girls.      Since the commencement of active enforcement of Title IX using the proportionality test started during the Clinton administration, literally hundreds of athletic programs for boys (in particular, the Olympic sports such as gymnastics, swimming, track and field and wrestling) have been eliminated and thousands of boys have been prohibited from even walking-on due to roster caps imposed by universities seeking to reach proportionality. It is important to note that these steps have not created any expanded athletic opportunities for girls.      There is no evidence to support the underlying premise of the proportionality test -- that girls and boys, as a group, each wish to participate in intercollegiate athletics in the identical percentages. In fact, the data is to the contrary. Boys elect to participate in intramural and varsity sports to a much greater extent than do girls. On the other hand, in most other extracurricular activities (such as debate, theatre, band, dance and choir), girls choose to participate in much higher percentages than do boys. Title IX does not mandate that girls and boys have identical interest in participating in various activities, only that they be treated fairly if they do wish to participate.     The outcome of this national debate regarding the proportionality test will have very real consequences for us in Georgia.  Title IX applies to all educational institutions that receive federal funds, including high schools in Georgia.  If the proportionality test survives as the standard for measuring compliance with Title IX at the intercollegiate athletic level, it is likely to also become the standard for measuring compliance with Title IX at the high school level.  Georgia High School Association (GHSA) schools currently compete in 14 boys' sports and 18 girls' sports.  However, during the 2001-02 season, 88,664 boys participated in varsity athletics versus 55,245 girls.  This "proportionality" disparity could place huge pressures on Georgia high school administrators to eliminate sports programs and opportunities for boys if proportionality becomes the gender equity standard at the high school level. To achieve proportionality, Georgia high schools would need to eliminate approximately 33,000 opportunities for boys (or 33,000 more girls would need to come out for a varsity sport). To put this in context, to eliminate 33,000 male participants at the GHSA level, we would need to totally eliminate all Georgia high school boys' teams participating in track & field, soccer, wrestling, cross country, tennis and swimming/diving.      Another significant impact of the proportionality test on Georgia kids is the artificial limitation it imposes on athletic opportunities for boys at Georgia colleges. A striking example is the total absence of any intercollegiate wrestling programs in Georgia.  Although there are over 100 colleges, universities and technical institutions in Georgia, none offer intercollegiate wrestling programs.  This is not due to lack of interest; wrestling is 6th out of 14 boys sports in popularity according to the 2001-02 GHSA participation statistics. Excluding the "pro sports" of football, basketball and baseball, wrestling is 3rd out of 11 boys' sports.  Based on participation in all boys ' and girls'  sports in Georgia, wrestling ranks 10th out of 34 sports, or in the top one-third.      Unfortunately, it appears that Georgia universities are intentionally electing not to offer a sport that is very popular in this state at the high school level solely to help satisfy the artificial quota established by the proportionality test.  The cruel dilemma for many of our young athletes is that, despite years of practice and dedication, they must forgo their dream of continuing to participate in their chosen sport as most do not have the ability to pay out-of-state tuition, and forego the Hope Scholarship, to attend a college that still has a wrestling program.    This is not a girls versus boys issue nor a debate challenging the laudable objectives of Title IX. It is possible to promote the creation of new opportunities for girls without taking opportunities away from boys. We need to urge our political representatives and fellow citizens to encourage the Department of Education to develop a common sense approach to Title IX enforcement that both (1) improves compliance with Title IX and its unquestioned objective of eliminating discrimination based on sex in all academic programs and activities, and (2) removes the incentive for universities and college officials to eliminate opportunities for boys.      Paula McGahee is the Chairperson of the Executive Board of Team Georgia Wrestling, the official non-profit state level representative of USA Wrestling, the national governing body for amateur wrestling in the United States. Team Georgia has over 85-chartered clubs and over 4,400 young athletes and coach members.  For further information regarding Team Georgia Wrestling and the Title IX controversy, see www.teamgeorgiawrestling.com    EDITOR NOTE: This column has been distributed to the media across the state of Georgia, in an effort to educate the public and the media on the subject. TheMat.com applauds the efforts of the leaders in Georgia for their commitment to the sport.