I don't see anything in the article that indicates the Federal government will be promoting gender segregation. The whole point is to allow school districts more flexibility in choosing whether or not they'd like to have all girl or all boy schools. If the government starts forcing segregation, that's a problem. But something that is meant to allow parents a choice doesn't bother me. To me this does not look like the beginnings of Atwood's fantasy being realized.

I doubt many would argue that boys and girls learn differently. I liked the last part of the article:

At Baltimore's Western High School, which has admitted only girls throughout its 159-year history, 94 percent of the students go on to college.

Landa McLaurin, the school's principal and a 1968 Western graduate, attributes the school's success not just to an enrollment policy that essentially bars students who were weak academically in middle school, but also to the confidence girls derive from going to school with one another.

"They're free to exercise a great deal of leadership traits," McLaurin said. "They are aggressive academically and athletically. They want to excel in every area, and they don't feel inhibited. They emerge as leaders. In coed environments, girls are less apt to do that."

That's a result I can applaud.