The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
The Virginia House of Delegates gave preliminary approval Tuesday to legislation (HB947) allowing home-schooled students to participate in interscholastic sports.
Supporters of the measure portrayed it as a matter of fairness. Del. Brenda Pogge, R-James City County, who home-schooled her five children, said keeping school athletics off-limits amounts to discrimination against Virginia’s 64,000 home-schooled students.
“There’s an institutional bias against home-schoolers,” she said. “They’re being told, ‘We don’t want you. You’re not good enough.’”
The measure drew bipartisan opposition led by Del. Bob Tata, R-Virginia Beach, chairman of the House Education Committee, who noted that the state’s school boards and superintendents oppose it.
“We’re not ready for this type of incursion into our school system,” he said. “Forget about the bill.”
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no worries
No need to worry if in VB, because unless in high school, there won't be any sports if Super gets his way.
Why Are Sports So Intertwined With School?
How is it that families that find a way to provide academic instruction and programs outside of the public school infrastructure can not find a way to provide athletic instruction and programs outside of that same infrastructure?
Actually, they do. B.E.A.C.H. Breakers, anyone? Most metro areas have similar groups.
There are plenty of options for sports that do not involve schools, and most of them are actually better that what schools provide. The home school community should take a closer look at this issue and see if they really want to have their children's athletic experiences to be as poor as their academic experiences would be if they were to enroll in public school.
Separate but Equal? I don't think so.
The suggestion that homeschoolers can have an athletic experience equivalent (or better) than public school sports programs has absolutely no basis in fact. There is no way homeschoolers can create the organization associated between public schools (such as the VHSL), nor do they have the resources in terms of facilities or equipment. HOWEVER, as taxpayers, the parents of homeschoolers do contribute to those resources and, therefore, have some right to the access of those resources. The fact that parents refuse the educational part of public schooling does not justify denying homeschoolers access to the athletic piece. What they are asking for is an opportunity to participate, not demanding guaranteed participation without competing.
Del. Brenda Pogge said,
Del. Brenda Pogge said, “There’s an institutional bias against home-schoolers. They’re being told, ‘We don’t want you. You’re not good enough.’”
QUESTION-When you decided to homeschool your children (which is your right), weren't you saying the public schools weren't good enough? Seems like a double standard.
it seems the public schools are saying the same thing
about themselves. They'll be quick to tell us if we want improvement we need to pay some more. Seems to me the more we pay the less we get.
Does Del Tata hear what he is saying?
“We’re not ready for this type of incursion into our school system”. I've got to ask, who is the "we" in "We're" and the "our"? Is his definition of "we" and "our" the school admininstrators and the people occupying the elected and appointed seats of public trust? Just MY opinion, but I think the "we" and "our" that OWNS the schools and PAYS for the employees (including administrators) are the TAX PAYERS. Maybe Tata needs a GOVERNMENT class? The parents of the "home schooled" students are TAX PAYERS also. They pay taxes to pay for the schools yet get nothing in return. Maybe it's time to start giving these families the $12K or so per student they are NOT sending to public schools? Maybe the same should be done for PRIVATE school students?
Let Home-schoolers Play
They are paying taxes, Its their right. The parent are paying for it. The school board and superintendents play God too much and are employed by us to teach not govern.
agree completely.
Everytime you turn around we hear how the schools need more money and we should provide for the children. Yet it seems like the more we pay the lower the quality of the education. It seems we have a Superintendent for every little program in the school system. Of course for every Superintendent there is at least one Assistant Superintendent. Each one of these Superintendents are getting salaries and benefits that are at least double what the TEACHERS make. I'm all for getting rid of some administrators and superintendents and hiring some more teachers and INCREASING the teachers pay.
Not Exactly
Since public schools receive state and federal funding based on pupil counts, those tax dollars that you pay are going somewhere else. If this is approved, the state should include funding to cover the cost of those students playing sports. Besides uniforms, insurance and officials fees, there are other administrative costs. Those include tracking academic performance and attendance. It may seem simple on the surface, but this will probably prove very costly to the schools. The parents of these kids chose to home school them. With that comes some sacrifices. School sports is one of them.
Where is this majical "somewhere else" taxes come from?
"Since public schools receive state and federal funding based on pupil counts, those tax dollars that you pay are going somewhere else."I'd really like to know where the "somewhere else" that you and the politicians think TAX dollars come from! Parents of home schoolers and parents of private school students PAY FEDERAL/STATE/CITY taxes. To me they should recieve a tax credit equal to the cost of educating a student in public school. They are having to pay twice to educate their kids. It's time to make the public school system responsible or loose some funding as a result.