Mr. Smith Goes to Charleston

We're off to the state capitol tomorrow. It's our first effort at getting state laws changed to be more fair to homeschoolers. You see, my 10 year old is a football fanatic. He's quickly aging out of our local city league. Kids who want to continue playing after elementary ages play for the middle school team. But Ryan isn't allowed to play for our middle school team because he doesn't attend school.

This issue has been brought before our legislators and state supreme court many times. They have their standard arguments about cost and grade point average. I'll immediately throw the cost thing out. We're saving them far more money by homeschooling our child than we'll use by participating in extracurricular activities. I don't even think it will cost them more money to include the 3-5% of homeschooled kids that may take advantage of this opportunity. In West Virginia, that would be, at most, 313 kids or six kids per county. They already have the fields, the equipment, the coaches, the uniforms... and extra expenses are usually covered by booster clubs, not school boards. AND, they already offer other services to homeschoolers so this point is moot.

The biggest obstacle is the grade point average requirement. Student athletes are required to maintain a 2.0 average in at least four classes that count towards graduation. The lawmakers have refrained from accusing homeschool parents of faking grades but they did voice concern about the lack of uniformity in curriculum... as if every school across the entire state uses the same curriculum, teaching methods, and grading stategies. Lawmakers also point out that athletically-gifted, yet academically challenged, students may withdraw from school to "homeschool" when they are failing a class. They actually said allowing homeschoolers to play would "invite mischief." Is it my responsibility to make sure there is no "mischief," within the public school athletic community? I'm sure there aren't any coaches or teachers fudging the grades to make sure their star athlete is on the field... yeah, right! I think this could be easily solved by red-shirting new homeschoolers.

Ryan emailed our legislators about his problem. Most ignored us, but we got a form letter from one and an invitation from another. Carol Miller invited the boys to page in the House of Delegates tomorrow. We'll also meet with her to discuss our issue and she set up a meeting with the chair of the education committee. It seems so promising, but I know many West Virginia homeschoolers have already done the same thing and gotten no where.

If you're a homeschooler or a West Virginia resident, this is your battle too. You can find your legislators by zip code at the West Virginia Legislature Web Site and send them a quick email. Out of staters can email too. This is a national issue since only 24 states currently allow homeschoolers to play on public school sports team. Getting a law passed in our state could help your cause.

And just for fun...

Can you name the Miami Dolphins defensive end who was homeschooled for 10th through 12th grade? He lost his college scholarship when university officials claimed he was ineligble b/c he was home educated. He fought back and played for the University of Akron on a full NCAA scholarship before he joined the NFL.

Can you name the homeschooled student who won the Heisman Trophy last year? That's right. His home state of Florida welcomes homeschoolers on their teams and look where it took him. Doesn't Ryan deserve the same chance?