Home-field advantage:Should homeschool kids be able to participate in public-school activities?

EDUCATION: Should homeschool kids be able to participate in public-school activities? The issue divides even homeschoolers By Lynn Vincent

DANIEL RODRIGUEZ USED TO wrestle and play basketball. Now his friends play for Solanco High School while Daniel, an 11th-grader, watches from the sidelines. Daniel isn't injured. He's homeschooled. And the Pennsylvania public-school district where he lives bars homeschoolers from its sports programs.

Pennsylvania ninth-grader Ryan Crider is also homeschooled. But he made the Penn Manor Junior High football team in seventh grade after that district opened sports to homeschoolers. Now Ryan plans to try out for the varsity basketball squad as well.

Daniel and Ryan exist on two sides of an educational divide: whether homeschoolers should be able to participate in public-school activities. In some states, government schools have thrown open their doors to home-taught kids who want to take classes or to participate in activities like sports and music; others have slammed them shut. At issue are three main types of public-school offerings: academic or "curricular" (particularly advanced math and sciences); extracurricular (such as band or choir); and interscholastic (mostly competitive sports).

Laws in 16 states allow homeschoolers "equal access" to one or more of these types of activities (see chart). Six states bar home-educated students from participating in one or more types. Such prohibitions have usually arisen from litigation in which a private-school or homeschool family was denied equal access, then sued.

In 1998, for example, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower federal court ruling against Annie Swanson, a homeschooled Oklahoma seventh-grader who, with her parents, sued the Guthrie Independent School District to gain part-time enrollment in district music, science, and foreign-language classes. In 1996, a New York court ruled against a homeschool student who wanted to participate in interscholastic sports.

In states with neither legislation nor case law addressing equal access, the question is usually left up to individual school districts or private associations. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, most states have private associations that hold sway over public-school interscholastic activities. Many such groups have by-laws that prohibit schools from allowing non-full-time students to participate. If a school violates those rules, an association can boot the school out of the league or make its teams forfeit games.

The debate over homeschool participation in public-school activities is more than a fight over laws and rules. Homeschool families themselves are philosophically divided. Those who favor equal access believe it is unfair to bar home-educated kids from public-school programs, since their tax dollars help foot the bill.

"Homeschool families pay millions of dollars a year in school taxes," said Tim Lambert of the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC). "They should not be denied the ability to voluntarily take advantage of the resources of a public school simply because they have made an alternative educational choice."

Homeschoolers who favor equal access also say mixing home-educated students with those in public schools tears down stereotypes. "I think one of the surprise benefits for both sides is that each becomes less 'suspicious' of the other," said Susan Richman of Pennsylvania Homeschoolers. "School folks realize that at least some homeschoolers are really nice, hardworking kids, ready to really give to a sports team, school orchestra, or drama production. The homeschoolers start realizing that not all [public] school kids are on drugs or pregnant.... Some barriers are broken down."

Parents who oppose equal access argue that entangling their students with government schools will invite increased government regulation of homeschooling overall.

"To participate in any government-sponsored program invites an authority that doesn't belong to [government]," said Susan Stewart, a California mom who homeschooled three children between 1981 and 2000. "As more private and home-educated students take part, more accountability for those students will be required.... The argument will then be that these regulations will only apply to those participating in government school activities. But ... our government doesn't work that way. Once the camel's nose is under the tent, he will continue on in."

Parents and groups opposed to equal access also worry that any marriage between homeschoolers and government could choke out innovation such as the homeschool sports and extracurricular clubs that have sprung up to fill the activities void. The 13-year-old National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championship tournament, for example, drew more than 200 teams from 25 states in 2003. The National Christian Forensics and Communications Association sponsors speech contests and debates nationally.

But some homeschoolers have no access to local programs that fit their child's gifts and interests. That was the case with the Lymans, a homeschool family in Amherst, Mass. Wid and Isabel Lyman homeschooled their son Daniel, now 20. Wid Jr., now a senior, is also homeschooled.

When Daniel reached high school, he wanted to play football. But in Amherst, what Mrs. Lyman calls a "quintessential New England liberal college town," there are few homeschoolers. With no opportunity to form a league of their own, the Lymans, "without enthusiasm," allowed Daniel to play on a local high-school football team. Daniel excelled, went on to play high-school lacrosse and ice hockey, and ultimately became the only student—homeschooled or not—to play every contact sport offered at the school.

On the downside, said Mrs. Lyman, he spent a lot of time mixing with teens brought up in an aggressively liberal academic environment: "Danny was smart and not easily intimidated.... He could hold his own, but certainly was very intrigued by public-school culture."

What Daniel really lacked, the Lymans realized, was camaraderie with young Christian men. That's why they chose a different route for their younger son, Wid. On a vacation several years ago, the Lymans passed through Bozeman, Mont., and liked the feel of the town. They later learned that Montana—a state that prohibits homeschool participation in public-school sports—has a vigorous homeschool sports community. Now, in an unusual arrangement, the Lymans organize their work schedules so that the family can spend winters in Montana, where Wid plays ice hockey for a privately run team and basketball for a homeschool league.

Though their younger son has flourished in Montana homeschool sports, Mrs. Lyman said the scarcity in Amherst of sports alternatives for Daniel has made her "a lot more sensitive to homeschoolers who have teen boys looking for outlets. If you live in a community where there aren't a lot of homeschool sports, you're kind of in a bind." Mrs. Lyman believes home educators must handle the issue on a case-by-case basis, according to the gifts and temperaments of their children.

Some state legislatures are considering bills that would remove school districts' case-by-case discretion. HB 214, a Texas bill that would have granted homeschoolers full equal access, died in the House after the Texas education department complained about its fiscal impact. The department's estimate was far too high, said THSC's Tim Lambert, adding that the legislature may reconsider HB 214 in an upcoming special session.

In Pennsylvania, a bill that would require public-school districts to allow homeschoolers to join in activities "including but not limited to clubs, musical ensembles, sports, and theatrical productions" passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate education committee.

That means Daniel Rodriguez may yet get a chance to play Solanco High School basketball with his friends. "They think it's dumb that I can't [play]," Daniel said. "I hope it changes."

but this seems to be a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

On the contrary, your case amounts to being forced to pay for the cake, but not being allowed to eat any of it. Being prohibited from participating should arise only in those places where people can opt out of property taxes, and who actually do opt out of them. They don't pay, they don't play. But everyone else pays.

To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical. -- Thomas Jefferson

Just what do you find objectionable about the Drama Club or local basketball team?

Well we will have a problem. Do you think public school kids could/should be able to decide to homeschool just 1 class, but take the rest at school? What about just 2 classes? This is inviting everyone to treat public school in an 'a la carte' fashion that I think will hurt everyone. The next thing is that a kid having a problem in math at public school and on the football team - he will decide to homeschool for math only....according to you he should be able to right?

Should homeschool kids be able to participate in public-school activities?

If the parents are paying property taxes in that school district and are paying federal taxes from which a portion is sent to the local public schools, a case could probably be made that it is unconstitutional to keep kids who are home-schooled from participating in other public school activities. On the other hand, it would not be illegal or unethical for a home-schooling association or a private school to keep public school kids from participating in its activities since the public school kids' parents aren't contributing.

Your position seems to imply that services are only for those who wish to be taught what the school wants to teach in the method the school wants to teach it.

I thought the purpose of the school was education? For children? Are some children more equal than others?

We all know this is a simple powerplay with the typical school administration. And they will play their typical games - "We don't get any more state funding for your child because he is not enrolled in our school full time" type arguments. Is their job to get funding or provide an education? I think it should be to educate -

The point is not who funds what - the point is that the funds are for the education of the children in that district - not for the education of those who select to attend the public school. So what this issue really is is discrimination - pure and simple - concerning the desired learning environment of the students. And of course an out of control monopoly.

Give the kids vouchers, allow a little competition into the market, and sorting it out will not take long. The only thing that even makes this a discussion is the public school monopoly.

Yes, I think the parents should be able to pick and choose, a la carte, from the tax supported, federal government schools.. They paid for the system, and it is their right as parents to decide what type of education their children receive.

I am for school choice and I am capitalist. Let the market bear what it will. A parent should be able to decide that his/her child is not receiving adequate math training, for example and have no issue with homeschooling in math , if they so desire.

What you advocate is rights for the school admisinstation, the teachers, and the parents who do not want to homeschool. Otherwise , who is being inconvenienced by a student homeschooling one subject or all of them?

Some school systems do allow what you advocate. The one for which I teach is one. In fact, not only may one home-school just one or two subjects, but many choose to send their children to the local community college for some classes in lieu of those classes at the public high school. The high school will grant credit for those classes if the student passes the corresponding SOL test (if applicable) and the class at the community college. The local high schools allow many other of the classes to be taught at the high school.

I would like to see special education services for kids that need them. Currently, you only get special ed services if you go to public school. If you homeschool or go to private school, they won't pay for the services.

Most parents of special ed kids can't afford the services, so we have to send our kids to public school.

I have a daughter in special ed. Our current elementary school is okay, but I'm not sure how the junior high will be. I would like the option of homeschooling her and still getting speech and occupational therapy.

I have nothing against homeschooling, in fact I am all for it, if the parent is capable and I learned early on that I not only was not capable, but did not have the temperment.

My brother and I spent 12 years in Catholic schools and were not permitted to participate in the programs of the public schools, even though my parents were paying the property taxes for the public schools AND the tuition for for the Catholic school.

I'm donning my asbestos suit, but I have no problem with a school district that chooses to not permit students not enrolled in one of their schools from participating in their programs.

Now, if a district permits students from private or parochial schools to participate, I agree they must permit the homsechooled as well.

"why then should he be allowed to participate in the athletic curriculum, and receive the advantages of demonstrating his athletic abilities for of college scouts (which I am certain is a huge factor)?"

Why not have the right to discard the bad that comes with high school, and select those aspects of the program that one has paid for and finds worthy? If more taxpayers could act as true consumers, it could only benefit all as the schools will fight to be more competitive and attract students (and the tax dollars that follow them).

As a homeschooler who also has a child who is a student in public high school, I've seen it all. It really irks me that my tax dollars are confiscated only to produce a school of the indifferent quality of our local public high school. (We supplement at home...) Anything "outside the box" that will force schools to look at and offer education differently -- including allowing students to pick and choose that which they find most worthy (yes, including a student's ability to "advertise" for colleges) can only be to the good, IMHO.

"This is inviting everyone to treat public school in an 'a la carte' fashion that I think will hurt everyone."

My thought is that to the contrary, if students can pick and choose, then everyone in the public school system will need to up the quality to ensure that *they* are among the "chosen." Just an alternative viewpoint to consider...

My husband and I chose where we moved in part because of the school district. Our daughter is only in kindergarten, but I have fallen in love with the Accomac county school district. It is far superior to anything I was able to find in Delaware that was within our financial means.

I can see this issue from both sides. On one hand, there's no reason to prohibit people from having access to the sports programs that their tax dollars are used to pay for. But on the other hand, let's think of it this way -- if you want to keep your kids out of the school system, then keep them out. Don't pick and choose which part of it fits your needs and which part doesn't.

Everyone pays taxes; nuff said. Now the Socialists in soceity want to determine what percentage of services one qualifies for based on thier social condition or needs. I think they might be one to something they don't quite yet understand:)

"Don't pick and choose which part of it fits your needs and which part doesn't.'

But why not? I think that sort of "feedback" from the taxypayer/consumer public could prove very valuable and productive. Just because it hasn't been done this way in the past doesn't mean it shouldn't be in the future -- we need to push our schools to start thinking "outside the box" when it comes to "delivering" education. Just MHO...

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