A bill in Richmond, Virginia will allow homeschooled students to play public school sports. The bill has been nicknamed the “Tim Tebow Law” after the Denver Broncos quarterback. Tebow was homeschooled, but played football on a public high school team.
The bill is pretty popular in Richmond; homeschoolers and a Republican-controlled General Assembly are throwing their support behind the bill. But, many school groups are not. They see a list of reasons why this bill should not pass.
If passed, House Bill 947, or the Tim Tebow Law, will allow homeschoolers to play sports at a public school. Parents of homeschoolers cheer the bill, saying they pay taxes so their kids should be allowed to play public school sports too.
Not speaking on behalf of the board, but his personal opinion, Lynchburg School Board Chair Charlie White disagrees.
“My counter-argument to that would be, I’m a taxpayer, and I didn’t utilize the services of the police department last year, but I didn’t call City Hall and ask for a refund,” said White.
White says government services aren’t served up a la carte. And the The Virginia High School League agrees. To them, the bill would create an unequal playing field between the public schooled and the homeschooled.
Some questions raised: Are the homeschooled full-time students? Must they meet academic standards like a certain GPA? And what is their discipline like at home?
But, for many homeschoolers, it’s a question of fairness.
According to the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers, “This bill will help families who might otherwise be forced to choose between homeschooling and athletics for their high school students.”
School Board Chair Charlie White empathizes with the homeschooled, but says they’ve already made up their minds.
“They’ve made a conscious decision to educate their child at home with the full knowledge and understanding that their child is not going to be a part of a public school community,” said White.
Just this week, the Tebow Bill scored a legislative touchdown of sorts – the House Education Committee voted for it. Still, organizations like the Lynchburg Education Association say they will lobby against it.
Virginia House Delegate Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke, said homeschoolers whose only link to the campus is the locker room and sports field will strain the team dynamic.
“Part of sports, whether you be male or female, is the comradeship. You have to bond, you have to be like one cylinder when you take that field,” said Ware.
“For a home-schooler to go into a locker room, male or female, it’s going to take some adjusting for the players,” Ware said. “You can play (sports) with me, but you don’t want to study or socialize with me.”
(((Public school students who want to participate in school sports must meet certain GPA and academic standards. So what do you think about kids who are homeschooled being allowed to play on the same public school sports teams even though they have no GPA and no academic standards?)))
