COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Title IX needs more enforcement and schools need to be brought into compliance, members of a special commission for the U.S. secretary of education said Wednesday.

	“	There's definitely a consensus that more needs to be done to enforce Title IX. The flip side is if you enforce it more diligently, you go back to other problems like proportionality. ”
		— Cynthia Cooper, commission co-chair

While no formal recommendation was made, some members of Education Secretary Rod Paige's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics noted that many colleges and universities do not comply with the requirements of Title IX, limiting the impact of the landmark federal law requiring equal opportunities for the sexes in schools.

"Enforcement is a huge concern. In 30 years, no one has ever lost their funding and there are many schools that are not in compliance,'' said commission co-chair Cynthia Cooper, a former WNBA all-star and ex-coach of the Phoenix Mercury.

The 1972 law requires schools that receive federal money to provide equal athletic opportunities for men and women. Since it took effect, the number of girls playing varsity high school sports has grown sharply, as have budgets for women's athletic programs.

"I would hope that we would make a recommendation that there be a mandate to be much more serious about enforcement,'' said commissioner Graham Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University.

Cooper, who heads the commission along with Stanford athletics director Ted Leland, said enforcing compliance with Title IX raises a wealth of sticky issues.

"There's definitely a consensus that more needs to be done to enforce Title IX. The flip side is if you enforce it more diligently, you go back to other problems like proportionality,'' she said.

Proportionality is a guideline used to measure compliance with Title IX in sports by comparing the number of male and female athletes with the percentage of male and female students on campus.

The 15-member commission, formed in June, is charged with looking for ways to improve Title IX. The panel closed a two-day public hearing at Cheyenne Mountain Resort, the third of four meetings held across the nation, on Wednesday. Commissioners will submit recommendations to Paige by Jan. 31.

In testimony Tuesday before the commission, some speakers said that the standard has forced schools to drop popular men's athletic programs to find room for female programs that garner little interest.

Other speakers said Title IX has been used as a scapegoat when men's programs are dropped because of financial woes or waning interest.

On Wednesday, commissioner Spanier said that he believes programs are often cut as a result of several factors.

"It's almost never about finances alone or Title IX alone,'' he said.

Other commissioners urged vigilance in looking beyond statistics and enrollment ratios in gauging Title IX's impact 30 years after its creation.

"My concern is that you can comply with a test perfectly and not have improved anything,'' said commissioner Lisa Graham Keegan, chief executive officer of the Education Leaders Council.

"You can be fair and terrible. It's hard to be fair and excellent.''

The commission's next meeting will be held Nov. 20-21 in San Diego.