Tim Tebow / UIL participation bills

[Chelli]

It made it out of committee in the Senate, and it passed on the Senate floor.

 

However, as of last night, it was voted down in the House committee... by ONE vote. Someone who changed his support.

 

I'm so upset by this.

 

I'm sure they will try again in two years. Hopefully that will be enough time to drum up enough support for the next go-round.

 

I hope this is the case.

 

I think it would be a wonderful thing for Texas homeschoolers, but so many (like all of them) of my fellow homeschool parents here in my part of Texas are adamantly against it and furious with THSC for supporting it.

 

They pulled out all the stops and used scare tactics to get people to contact their state reps. You couldn't argue with them about it either because they wouldn't give you the time. The same mantra over and over, "I don't want the government in my homeschool. If we give them any kind of entry into homeschool laws, they will take over. You can do anything that they can do in the public school via homeschool classes."

 

Um, no, I can't unless I drive an hour into Houston, and some people don't live remotely near a big city where this is a possibility at all. Not to mention that Tebow laws in other states have not required any more government intrusion at all. In fact, Arkansas passed a Tebow law and got rid of the standardized testing requirement for homeschoolers at the same time, so it actually brought in less government requirements.

 

However trying to have these conversations is =  :banghead:

[displace]

Nm

Edited May 26, 2017 by displace

[Guest]

Yes, that "Texans for Homeschool Freedom" is a farce. I have very little that's nice to say about them. Scare tactics, misinformation, outright lies...

Edited May 26, 2017 by Kinsa

[sassenach]

Florida, which last I checked HSLDA considers a yellow light state, was INCREDIBLY easy to HS in and hs kids had full access to art and sports. 

 

California, where I live now, is like TX. No regs, no access. I would 100 percent support homeschoolers having access to sports and arts here.  I wish my kids could have joined the band in middle school. I wish we could have access to some public school resources without it being an all in or all out situation.

 

I understand why people feel the way the OP does, but I just don't agree. I think more families would hs through high school if they could access sports and arts. My personal experience of these laws is the benefits WAY outweigh the cost. In fact, I never heard of or experienced any interference from FL government or schools. They did not bother us at all.

 

My line for government involvement always lands on pre-approval. To me, the danger zone is anything that requires curriculum to be approved or assigned. I also don't like any law that dictates that the districts can impose anything onto homeschoolers based on test results. My question about the Tx law would be is there any alternative to testing? What tests are they using? Can anything be imposed on the homeschool based on test results (meaning, beyond denying access to the sport, can the district use those results to interfere with the homeschool)?

 

With a state as INSANE about high school sports as TX, quite frankly, they need to do something to keep people from abusing the law. If they allow hsers to do sports without any requirements, you will for sure run into issues with coaches recruiting kids out of other schools and students basically dropping out of school to become "professional" high school athletes. They need some way of screening out those issues, and since TX doesn't have any other registration for hsers, the testing requirement makes sense.

 

All that to say, there is a firm ideological divide among hsers revolving around this issue of government involvement. We've done the rounds here on this board hundreds of times. There won't be a consensus. One camp will lose and neither camp will change its mind, as far as I can tell. So, OP, I'm sorry that you feel like you're on the losing end right now. 

[stephanier.1765]

We live in Florida. When my son played sports, we had to supply a transcript/report card with his grades. He had to maintain a certain grade point average in order to play but so did all the public school kids. It was easy peasy.

[SebastianCat]

We live in Florida. When my son played sports, we had to supply a transcript/report card with his grades. He had to maintain a certain grade point average in order to play but so did all the public school kids. It was easy peasy.

I live in Florida and am currently filling out our paperwork for DS for the fall cross country season.  I have to supply a transcript from the prior semester showing that DS has an unweighted cumulative GPA of at least a 2.0, plus supply a form from our school district confirming that we are in compliance with homeschooling requirements (portfolio review or standardized testing once per year).   The GPA requirements are the same for both homeschoolers and PS students.   We just have 2 extra forms + a transcript to supply to document it.

[mom2scouts]

I was in high school in Texas when "No Pass No Play" took effect.  It was huge.   If the kids effected could have dropped out and 'homeschooled' and still played football, they totally would have.   Those kids would have been a disgrace to homeschooling.   So, I'm OK with testing.  

 

In my state, a Tebow law was passed that specifically prohibits a student who is not passing in public school from dropping out, becoming "homeschooled", and accessing sports that way. There is a time period those students need to homeschool before they are eligible. I haven't seen any negative consequences to the Tebow law, but I'm not sure there's a significant number of homeschoolers who use it.

[shawthorne44]

It made it out of committee in the Senate, and it passed on the Senate floor.

 

However, as of last night, it was voted down in the House committee... by ONE vote. Someone who changed his support.

 

I'm so upset by this.

 

I'm sure they will try again in two years. Hopefully that will be enough time to drum up enough support for the next go-round.

 

Who was the turncoat ?   

[shawthorne44]

Do "extracurriculars" ever become curricular in TX? My state has a Tebow bill in place, but what I've heard from parents at DD's cheer gym, it's a dead letter for most sports because being on a team automatically adds a half credit of "school sports" to your transcript. (PE credit). Which, therefore makes it a class. Homeschoolers cannot enroll in classes. Ergo, give up on any hope of your kid being able to try out for their local school cheer team. The same applies to band, choir, etc. I'm guessing making it a class may also negate "no pass, no play", too, since you wouldn't kick a kid out of English for failing Algebra.

 

 

Texas does/did?  allow the school districts to allow homeschoolers.   The city where we used to live allowed homeschoolers in sports all but cheer-leading.   The reasoning was that it was equally a school spirit thing so the cheerleaders had to be on campus all day.   Although, in reality, even the public schooled kids didn't have much access to sports.   The schools were huge by design to have the best sports teams.  So, if you were a Tim Tebow type, sure join.   If you were an average kid, then no.  

[snowbeltmom]

We live in Florida. When my son played sports, we had to supply a transcript/report card with his grades. He had to maintain a certain grade point average in order to play but so did all the public school kids. It was easy peasy.

 

When my oldest was in 8th grade, the state of Ohio left it up to each district whether they were permit the homeschoolers that resided in their district to partake in extracurricular activities.  Our district is extremely homeschool friendly and was one of the few in our area that permitted my son to play.  The Ohio Athletic Association required that I submit a transcript/report card with his grades just like the requirement in Florida.

 

A few years ago, a law was passed in the state of Ohio (one of the individuals who helped draft the bill was a former homeschooler) that requires all school districts to permit their homeschoolers to participate in all extracurricular activities.  The law also stipulates that no one can require any additional information from homeschoolers who partake of the public school offerings.  As a result, I haven't had to submit any transcripts/grades for 4 years now.  .

 

I hope the Texas homeschoolers opposing the bill in their state will take a look at what is happening in the rest of the country.  I haven't heard of a single state that has increased oversight of its homeschooling population when a law is passed permitting homeschoolers to participate in sports and other after-school activities.

 

[J-rap]

In our state, each district can decide whether to allow students to freely participate in extracurriculars and even a class or two or three.  We live in a very homeschool friendly district, so my kids were able to participate.  

 

Our state also requires annual testing.  However, we are not required to ever show anyone our test results.  So, being on a sports team never requires a certain score.

[FaithManor]

 Academic requirements to participate in school sports has been around for a very long time. There are minimum GPA requirements including participating in the annual testing plus not failing a core class that must be met in order to participate. The actual score of the annual testing, however, does not factor into whether or not the student can play, they just simply have to participate since the rest of the student body does.

 

This prevents students from dropping out, claiming to be homeschooled but NOT, and then rejoining.

 

The rules need to be evenly applied to all players.

[Bambam]

I'm in Texas and actually glad the Tim Tebow bill did not pass. 
Reasons:

It imposed a great burden on homeschooled students. 

It would cause homeschoolers to forfeit one of their freedoms - the one of no test requirements. 

I think it would open the door to more testing requirements for the rest of us. 

It would effectively kill most of the alternative organizations/teams/bands etc that some of us have worked so hard to set up. 

 

I do not know why THSC flipped on this issue. I don't know why they would recommend a bill that instituted testing for homeschoolers. I think HSLDA has it correct when they stood against this bill.

 

 

 

[FaithManor]

I'm in Texas and actually glad the Tim Tebow bill did not pass. 

Reasons:

It imposed a great burden on homeschooled students. 

It would cause homeschoolers to forfeit one of their freedoms - the one of no test requirements. 

I think it would open the door to more testing requirements for the rest of us. 

It would effectively kill most of the alternative organizations/teams/bands etc that some of us have worked so hard to set up. 

 

I do not know why THSC flipped on this issue. I don't know why they would recommend a bill that instituted testing for homeschoolers. I think HSLDA has it correct when they stood against this bill.

If this how you feel, then I hope you don't try to participate in UIL programs. It is profoundly unequal for all of the other team members to have to produce proof of testing, and for their homeschooled teammate to not. It shows favoritism that should not exist and casts homeschoolers as a whole in a very bad light.

[Dmmetler]

FWIW, my DD does travel cheer, and has to submit proof of being in good academic standing (the parent has to sign to allow the coach to contact the school and see grades for kids in PS. Homeschoolers have to have a parent sign the form each quarter). The reason is that it isn't uncommon for a kid on a senior team to miss a day or two of school for each of the competitions, and it adds up. It doesn't seem at all unreasonable for kids to have to provide similar proof for a school team, homeschooled or not.

Edited May 31, 2017 by dmmetler