The home school contingent of parents and supporters are again making their demand for their children to participate in public school athletic activties. This request is not a new one as it has been on the list of proposed legislation in previous years/sessions. For the current session, the process began on September 6, 2011 when parents/supporters of HB 2395 proposed by Delegate Richard Bell made their requests again to the House Education sub-committee. It has surfaced again this winter in the current session of the General Assembly along with a new attempt by Delegate Bell to affect high school athletics in Virginia. His new piece of legislation is HB 947 which, if passed in its current form, would deny school divisions to participate in a league (read VHSL) that does not allow home schoolers to participate in interscholastic sports. Please see Bet Neale’s January 30th blog for more information.
The attempts by parents and this member of the General Assembly so far have not been successful. Interscholastic sports activities in Virginia do not need this level of pressure placed by parents of non-public school students. Most recently, Dr. William Bosher, former State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Virginia made his thoughts known about this issue.
“High school athletics are a function of the public or private schools to which they are attached…no matter who pays. There is also the issue of recruitment. As a coach, I may love to have Tebow (a former home school student) but as Delegate Tata notes, high school athletics have never been a free agent system. As for priorities, home school families should fight for access to algebra and chemistry….not football and soccer. The General Assembly should take a knee on this one!”
You may read his complete commentary onwww.nbc12.com/story/16626269/education-editorial-tim-tebow-bills
