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Public access?
Debate continues about home-school
children participating in public school activities
By
Lisa Singleton-Rickman
Staff Writer, Times-Daily Northwest Alabama
May 15. 2007
Hamp Perritt and his mother, Lisa, work together in a home-school
session.
A bill that would allow
home-schooled children to participate in extracurricular activities in public
schools is before the state legislature.
Like all of the ones before, the Home School Access bill is not expected to make
it to the floor of the state Senate or House for a vote.
But debate over the issue continues to intensify.
State Rep. Barry Mask, R-Wetumpka, is a co-sponsor of the bill and speaks
realistically about it.
"The process here is designed to kill bills," he said. "I'm afraid it's caught
in a Senate logjam. If it doesn't get moving by (May 22), it's over for this
year."
For a while, and some proponents still remain hopeful, it appears the bill was
progressing through the legislative process. The optimism came after the Senate
education committee adopted a substitute bill.
The new version restricts the bill's application to home-school students.
Previous legislation would have allowed students in private and parochial
schools to also participate in extracurricular activities at a public school.
"I do believe it stands a better chance in this form," Mask said.
There's plenty of opposition to the bill, including a group of public school
educators who spoke out against it in a recent public hearing.
Mask said the issue boils down to two things: money and control.
"It's a fair argument for local schools to say they're losing out on those
enrollment dollars by allowing kids not enrolled in their districts to
participate in extracurriculars," he said. "But there could be a compromise
whereby the home-schoolers would have to pay a (participatory) fee."
State appropriation to public schools is based on the enrollment at each
individual school. Public schools receive about $6,000 per student.
Schools, of course, must take money from the state appropriation to spend on
each student who participated in an extracurricular activity.
Proponents say they pay the same taxes that parents of public school students
pay, but get none of the benefit.
There are many arguments and counter-arguments for both sides of the issue that
have nothing to do with money.
Those who oppose the bill say the it is fraught with practical problems. For
instance, they say there is a need for home-schoolers to be held to the same
academic, attendance and discipline standards that public school students are
required to meet if they want to participate in extracurricular activities.
The bill addresses all extracurricular activities, but the issue is perhaps
focused more heavily on sports than other areas such as math clubs, drama teams
and bands.
Many on the athletic side of the debate say allowing home-schooled students to
play for public school teams will only lead to recruiting and competitive
advantages for some schools.
Alabama High School Athletic Association Executive Director Dan Washburn quickly
puts the issue in perspective from his organization's take on the issue.
"If we're not good enough to educate your kid, we're not good enough to coach
your kid," he said.
The AHSAA is precise about its eligibility requirements. Washburn said it's a
basic rule of eligibility that a child must be a full-time student in the system
in which he participates.
"The same rigors should hold true for all students because we firmly believe
that extracurricular activity is an earned privilege, not a guarantee," Washburn
said.
If the current bill passes, home-schooled students could only participate at the
school district in which he or she resides.
Lisa Perritt is familiar with the arguments against the bill, but as a parent
who home-schools her 13-year-old son, Hamp, she hopes the legislature sees the
issue as being about what's best for children.
Hamp is a runner who would love to participate in a track or cross-country
program. As it stands now, he runs through the USA Track and Field organization
and is active with a local track club.
Perritt said her son will be fine if he is never allowed to participate for a
school team. But she wants to see the bill passed for other children who play
football or other sports that aren't offered elsewhere on recreational levels.
She and her husband, Daughtry, are tracking the bill closely.
Lisa and her son even advocated for the bill in the public hearing in Montgomery
in April.
"I want to see every child in this state have the opportunity to be all God
intended them to be," she said. "I believe this is part of it."
The bill, dubbed the Tim Tebow Bill, is in reference to the standout University
of Florida football quarterback who was home-schooled but was allowed to play
football for a public high school in Jacksonville, Fla.
Florida legislators passed a bill in 1996 that allowed athletes like Tebow to
play for public schools. The state is one of 23 that allow home-schooled
students to participate in public schools.
Jacksonville resident Sue Dickinson home-schooled her children in the 1990s and
said she followed with interest her state's progress in passing the law.
"Home-schooling fit our lifestyle at the time, and my children participated in
community level sports teams and dancing," she said. "I was aware that they were
missing out on some of the activities offered in public school, but it still
seemed right for us."
Dickinson said she was like any parent and thought her children's talents could
be utilized on a larger scale at a public school.
She said she never advocated the Florida bill publicly because, "back then we
just felt that society viewed us as taking money away from public schools by not
enrolling our children."
Today, she's watching the Alabama bill and hoping the state will follow
Florida's path. She has family in Alabama.
She said she sees no drawbacks to the law in Florida and has watched it reap
positive results.
"You don't have to look any further than Tim Tebow to see what can come from
allowing these (home-schooled) students to participate," she said.
The Perritts say they are hopeful the Alabama version of the bill will pass this
year.
Hamp, a seventh-grader, said during the public hearing on the bill that it's
good for all children to be on a team and know the joy of teamwork and
competition.
"People might think grades and discipline are a problem," he said. "If people
could see all the work we do academically and see us actually doing the sports
we're interested in, they'd want us to be on their teams."
Kevin Rose,
Sheffield football coach and athletic director, said he's never had a
home-schooled child approach him about playing.
"Personally, I think if a child is going to participate in high school
athletics, he or she should be part of the school system," Rose said.
At
Lexington, football coach Rick Putman said he's read about the legislation
on the Internet. His concern is eligibility.
"It would be doable as long as the home-schooled kids are eligible only in the
district where they live," he said. "I've never considered it a major deal."
Putman said he has been asked at different times by home-schooled children if
they could participate in extracurricular activities. His answer has always been
the same -- to participate, the student must be enrolled in that school.
Putman also said there is more to school than just participating in
extracurricular activities. He said home-schooled students miss out on the
interaction with other students.
There are already situations locally in which home-schooled students are allowed
to participate in public school activities.
While the AHSAA regulates sports eligibility for public schools, each local
district determines its own policy on the issue.
Although there are no home-schooled students participating in those activities
at
Florence High School, students have, in the past, been part of drama and
show choir programs, for example.
Billy Warren,
Florence schools curriculum director, said students from outside the
district are allowed to take academic courses for a fee of $60 per semester.
Mask and others say the issue will not die even if it the bill fails this
session.
"We'll try again next year," he vowed.
Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or
lisa.singleton-rickman@timesdaily.com.
Sports Editor Gregg Dewalt contributed to this report.
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