From the sound of a story on the Magnolia Tribune website, it appears that Tim Tebow is about to throw a touchdown pass in Mississippi.
All football fans remember Tebow, the popular college and NFL quarterback. Today he is best known for weekly appearances on the SEC Network’s college football pregame show.
The quarterback’s current link to Mississippi comes through what the Tribune calls the Tim Tebow Act — bills in both the state House and Senate that sets rules for allowing homeschooled children to participate in public school extracurriculars. The Tribune says the nearly identical bills stand their best chance yet of passing.
The legislation is named for Tebow because he was a homeschooled student in Florida who got to play football for a public high school and led the team to a state championship.
In college, Tebow led the Florida Gators to two national championships, where his ideal blend of good looks, sports leadership and religious faith made him a fan favorite.
Advocates of letting homeschooled students participate in public school extracurriculars say it should be allowed because these families pay the same taxes as everyone else, yet in Mississippi their kids can be denied a spot on a team.
That is certainly true — because homeschooled children by definition do not attend a public school. Which leads to this question: If a homeschooling family is all wired up about the taxes they pay, why are extracurriculars the only part of public school that interests them?
Opponents of homeschool participation offer similarly weak arguments. According to the Tribune, they say extracurriculars are more of a privilege than a right. Opponents also claim that homeschool students are not held to the same standards as public school students.
Considering the subject with a level head, there is only one reason to object to homeschool students in public school extracurriculars: If their participation prevents public school students from taking part.
Say a high school band has 60 members. It would not be fair if a homeschooled student, even the best trumpet player in the state, took one spot and a student at the school got left out.
According to the Tribune, the two bills in the Legislature include some common-sense guidelines. For example, parents must regularly provide proof to the school that their homeschooled student is passing all his classes. Homeschooled extracurricular participants must comply with laws about physical exams, immunizations, health insurance and eligibility requirements. Homeschool families also must pay any fees that public school families do.
Most important, both bills set up a Homeschool Extracurricular Activity Fund in the state Department of Education. Public schools could get up to $2,250 in additional funds for each homeschool student who participated in extracurriculars. That would allow a school to increase participation to account for homeschoolers without penalizing other students.
