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The “Tebow Bill,” aimed at allowing home-schooled students to play public school sports, failed to pass the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee yesterday in an 8-7 vote.
This is the second consecutive year that the bill has not cleared Virginia Senate.
After this legislation cleared the Virginia House of Delegates on Feb. 1, supporters hoped it would continue past the Senate and eventually take effect, allowing school districts to make their own decision on whether homeschoolers could play or not.
More officially known as House Bill 1442, this bill was nicknamed after NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who was homeschooled, but was still allowed to play high school football.
When Tebow’s success spawned from being a homeschooled student in Florida, other states such as Kentucky, Alabama and Virginia began to rally for those same student rights.
Representing approximately 6,000 homeschooled students in the state, The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers argues that homeschooling families pay the same taxes as public school students’ families, so they should be entitled to the same public entities.
The Virginia High School League disagrees. Students who attend public school must adhere to certain eligibility and responsibility requirements in order to claim a name on the roster; the VHSL questions whether homeschoolers can meet those same requirements for an equal shot at a spot on a team.
Public school students subjected to standardized tests demonstrate their academic standing, while homeschool students are able to do that as well. However, there are a few regulations named by the VHSL that homeschool students may be unable to meet.
Each student-athlete must be enrolled in at least five classes that count towards graduation, and also must attend school for at least half the day in order to participate in athletic activity that same day.
The main issue is that many parents who choose to homeschool their kids take a different approach not only to curriculum, but also to the pace at which their children learn, which has an effect on the VHSL attendance policies.
Flexibility in the rules is what sponsor, Del. Rob Bell (R-Albemarle), along with The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers, is looking for.
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 15 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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It's a shame that because some home schoolers do things differently and may not meet "requirements," the rest of the academically on-par home schooled students have to suffer. I was home schooled my whole life and started college when I was 16, and my parents ALWAYS made sure everything I did was on record, I took the SAT and ACT, etc.. I know many, many homeschooling families who do the same, but unfortunately, there's always a few who set the tone and begin the stereotypes... :/
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Maybe there could be a compromise. If the school were to provide the home-schooled student a type of academic test associated with the test that is presented to in-school students, and if the homeschool student passed the test, then that student would be qualified to play school sports. Even though you may be home-schooled, your parents still have to pay property taxes for the schools and sports arenas. Home-schooled students should be allowed to use them.
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Sorry, but your "parents pay taxes" argument really doesn't fly. People without children also pay taxes, some of which go to support schools. Should they be allowed to use school facilities when they want to. Tax dollars also support public parks, but not everyone who pays taxes goes to the park. Should they be allowed to opt out of part of their taxes because of this?
Home school parents made a choice (not saying it is a wrong choice) to keep their children out of public school classrooms. They shouldn't be allowed to pick and chose what they want from a school, like full participation in EXTRAcurricular activities, just because they want their child to have a chance at some sports scholarship.
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