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This is a step in the right direction, but the goal should be to get athletics out of the schools and reorganize youth sports around a club system. How to do this depends on local options, but broadening participation in school based athletics and using school facilities for outside athletic groups is likely to be a good start in many places where the schools are still the primary sponsors of the activity.

Club sports are broad at the base and in principle can offer a team for every kid who wants to play, and an appropriate competitive level for each team. Clubs can be very competitive and tryout based at the upper levels, but they offer open participation to beginners and weaker players as well. If enough come out to field eight boys basketball teams and four girls soccer teams, great. Clubs do this. The schools don't.

This is not my experience. Around me the clubs pick off the prime students and that works until high school, when the schools pick them back. Our park district runs the teams that average and below average players can join.

But sports is just the beginning, there is theater, arts and bands as well. The reality is that kids that join at least one of these groups do better in high school than those who don’t. And colleges prefer students who excel in at least one activity outside of academics.

If your high schooler is not in one of these groups and does not have a job then the likelihood of drug use shoots up.

The club idea is a good one, though that will have to be dealt with in other legislation. I agree with others here, that since home school parents pay taxes, they should be aloud to have their children participate - without schools getting into their home.

And that is where the problem lies. Here's a quote from the article.

"Kaseman, head of the home-schooling advocacy group, said Rep. Bob Kulp (R-Stratford) reached out to the association in February to gauge its support for the measure.

Kaseman sent a reply letter to Kulp in February that said the association opposed the measure because it could lead to increased government regulation of home-schooled students."

See the problem? If the legislation does not address this issue, I think it should be killed.