My first post is the background to the video on my blog. Our youngest son is a talented athlete in both soccer and baseball. He has played on many recreational league and club soccer teams, as well as on Dixie Youth/Boys baseball teams and all-star teams.
Unfortunately, when he reached high school age, his opportunities in sports became extremely limited. The boys with whom he had played sports since he was 5 years old wanted him to play with them on the local middle school and high school teams, but in our state of Alabama, that is not allowed.
The Alabama High School Athletic Association, which regulates public school sports in the state, prohibits anyone who is not enrolled full-time in the public school from playing on that school's team.
As tax payers whose dollars go to support the public schools, we wondered why our son could not try out for the teams or even participate in other extracurricular activities at the public schools in our district. We soon found that we were not alone in our dilemma.
Other parents across the state with athletic children joined with us in supporting a bill in the Alabama legislature to allow equal access for homeschoolers to sports and other extracurricular activities at their local schools.
The bill was soon dubbed the "Tim Tebow Bill," after Florida's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. Tim Tebow was homeschooled in Florida, but because of equal access laws in that state, he was allowed to play football for his local high school team. That's where his talent was discovered, and he became the most recruited high school quarterback in the nation.
Our bill has not seen much success thus far. Because of opposition from the Alabama Education Association and the Alabama High School Athletic Association, we have not been able to get the bill out of committee. From our lobbying efforts, we believe that if the bill came to a vote on the floor, it would pass.
Currently, 23 states support equal access in some form for homeschoolers. We believe that passage of this bill would benefit not only homeschool athletes, but also the entire education system in Alabama. After all, homeschool parents will be super athletic boosters and promoters of academic excellence.
The video on this blog was filmed by ESPN's Outside the Lines because of the growing interest in this issue across the nation as homeschooling continues to grow. The ESPN crew followed our family around for a couple of days and filmed segments for the show. It is a very positive piece. Watch it and tell me what you think.
To learn more about our efforts in Alabama, visit http://www.timtebowbill.com/
Friday, February 22, 2008
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
