MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama Senate committee on Wednesday hinted that a bill allowing home school students to play public school sports might finally catch a Hail Mary pass after years of fumbles.
The Senate Education Committee held a public hearing for legislation that would allow home school students to join public school sports and other extracurricular activities for their local district.
The bill is named after Tim Tebow, the Heisman-winning University of Florida quarterback who played for his local high school football team while being home-schooled.
The public hearing pit student athletes against teachers and coaches. Home school students and their parents said tax-paying families should be allowed to participate in extracurricular programs, while opponents said home school students can’t pick which parts of public school life they want to be a part of.
“I beg you not to wait another year,” said Karin Millican, a parent from Rainsville, Ala. “A year in the life of every adult in this room is about the same as the one before. But our children, they’ve got one 9th grade year, and one 10th grade year, and one 11th grade year. And when it’s gone, it’s gone forever, and those opportunities are lost.”
Steve Savarese, executive director of the Alabama High School Athletics Association, was one of several opponents who spoke against the bill. He said home school students aren’t held to the same standards as public school students.
“We believe that everyone, according to the admission and a constitution of the association, should follow the same standards in order to participate,” he said. “That one group couldn’t make one standard and another group have another standard, but you’re all competing together on the same playing field.”
The “Tim Tebow Act” is no rookie in the Alabama Legislature, having been carried by a number of lawmakers for nearly a decade. But this year it has momentum. Earlier this month, the bill passed the Alabama House of Representatives on a 52-43 vote.
Other states already have passed similar legislation.
Senate committee chairman Dick Brewbaker, R-Montgomery, said the bill has the backing of Senate leadership.
“This thing is gaining momentum,” Brewbaker said. “And if the full committee was here, and this was a voting meeting, whether I as chair wanted the bill out or not today, if there was a vote it would get out.”
Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, said the public hearing made him more of an advocate for home school students’ ability to participate.
“I’m going to tell you, as a result of today’s public hearing I know where I stand on this,” he said. “I was kind of weak but I’m strong now.”
Not all senators were onboard.
Committee vice chairman Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, said the legislature has spent the past several legislative sessions expanding school options for students and parents.
“I understand what people are trying to get to,” Ross, a former principal and teacher, said. “And we have been dealing with school choice and this is a big choice. You choose whether you want to keep your children at home, or you send them to the public school where these activities are available, and that’s a decision that the parents have to make.”
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