Texas Tebow bill pass the US Senate

mommix3

mommix3

Active Member
I can't decide if this is a good thing or not.. I'm excited and concerned at the same time.. BUT this is not a law as of yet.. We still have some steps to go through.. :) Ya, I had to research what happens next.. It's a teachable moment for the kids.. We havent talked about gov't yet so this is a foot in the door for that..
 
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I have mixed feelings as well. While I think my kids should be allowed to participate in sports, I can't decide if I would take advantage of it. I have a dd who wants to swim in college. IF I lived in a huge swimming area (like when we were in TX), I would consider it, because recruiters attend big HS meets. However, here, HS swimming is an absolute joke, and no college recruiter would attend even the state championship meet. She is able to compete in a year-round club team, so she can be seen. I would much rather create homeschool leagues for our kids to participate in! I've considered trying to gather resources to start one, but the homeschool community here has been VERY hard to break into.

If my child had an athletic gift that could only be used by participating in public school sports, I'd probably consider it.
 
I just read that some states require students to pass a standardized testing in order to play. I'm not sure I'd submit to that, but I don't live in a state that requires hs'ers to test.
 
sixcloar said:
I just read that some states require students to pass a standardized testing in order to play. I'm not sure I'd submit to that, but I don't live in a state that requires hs'ers to test.
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I watched the town meeting that THSC put on and I'm not too happy with that aspect.. According to THSC, parents aren't trusted to say that their child is passing so that's why they placed the testing into the bill; otherwise the bill wouldn't have even been considered.. If the child does not pass they are out for 6 weeks and then the parents can say that they are passing all their studies then they can play.. I don't understand why they wouldn't take the parents word to begin with, BUT as soon as the test is administered they are willing to take the parents word.. Also, the tests are supposed to be good for 2 years.. So they take it once and then if they don't pass, they are out 6 weeks then can play until the tests expire and they have to retake.. I'm not so sure we are going to take part in the sports right now.. It's going to be really hard on the kids coming in.. I'm sure a lot of bullying is going to go on.. My daughter is beyond excited at the prospect of being able to play sports.. This was her last year in city leagues.. We will have to really sit down and consider this.. I don't want the public school in my homeschooling business..
 
While I can understand why this could be a good thing for some kids, I'm just not convinced this is good for homeschooling in general. There are just too many ways for this to go wrong. Plus, it's not something I'd ever utilize, so if it were up to just me, I'd definately say "No thanks".
 
The Arkansas version just passed about a month ago. They require oversight on grading and record keeping that the rest of the HS community doesn't have to deal with. So I'm not a fan.
 
They require oversight on grading and record keeping that the rest of the HS community doesn't have to deal with. So I'm not a fan.
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I can't imagine that many homeschoolers will be. That would pretty much be a deal-breaker for me, if I was considering it.
 
sixcloar said:
I can't imagine that many homeschoolers will be. That would pretty much be a deal-breaker for me, if I was considering it.
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From the threads going in our local Yahoo group, most moms are ecstatic about it. They just want little Johnny to be a football star, no matter the extra requirements.
 
What I see is that it will provide a way for the government to get oversight on those homeschoolers that do want to participate. And that will lead to oversight on ALL homeschoolers, whether they participate or not.

What about private school kids? Do THEY have the right to play a sport at the public high school (especially if their school doesn't have that sport)? If not, why should we?
 
Jackie said:
What I see is that it will provide a way for the government to get oversight on those homeschoolers that do want to participate. And that will lead to oversight on ALL homeschoolers, whether they participate or not.

What about private school kids? Do THEY have the right to play a sport at the public high school (especially if their school doesn't have that sport)? If not, why should we?
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You pretty much summed up my thoughts and feelings on the matter.

When I chose to homeschool, I chose to not use the whole public school system. I don't feel like I should be special and pick and choose what I use. Yes, I pay taxes that go towards schools. So do all of the people who don't have children and I don't see them wanting their local schools available for personal use.
 
good point, Ladies.. As far as private schools getting to play, NO they tried to pass a bill for them and it was knocked down.. Texas homeschoolers are considered private schools but with this new tebow bill, they had to seperate "homeschool" from private school.. I feel this is VERY dangerous... The more I think about it, the more I say NO WAY AM I GOING TO PARTICIPATE.. Especially in Texas where homeschool is as free as free can get.. Absolutely NO oversight from the state.. I'm not going to participate in allowing the Gov't to get a foot in the door..
 
So, is this the one place where PA's laws are pretty cool? It's in our law that the school has to allow homeschoolers to partcipate in ALL extra curriculars... that can be things like band and clubs or it can be sports. Not that I would take advantage of it most likely and the teachers/instructors/coaches/etc would probably be likely to treat homeschool kids differently... but it's nice to know it is there if we should want to take advantage of it.
 
The problem for many homeschoolers who have athletes is that many sports are not available after elementary school. Community leagues believe that all athletes will just start to play for the middle or high school teams and don't offer sports after that. Sports are not really part of the education many parents are trying to opt out of and I don't see why homeschoolers can't participate in them.
 
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