"Let Them Play"- Homeschoolers and High School Athletics

I couldn't play In VA.  Or the Jets.

Tim Tebow's fortunes changed a lot in the past 12 months as he went from Denver Bronco playoff winning QB to New York Jets afterthought.  The same cannot be said Virginia Delegate Rob Bell's bill that affects the eligibility of home-schooled athletes playing on public school teams.  The Virginia version of the Tebow Bill failed for a 2nd consecutive year in a Senate Committee vote.  So should we "let them play?"  We briefly touched on this issue before.  It is a lively and complex discussion.  

Three bills began a journey but Bell's advanced to this point falling short by only one vote.  The bill would have allowed homeschool students to play for Virginia High School League athletic teams. A move opposed by the Vigrinia High School League(VHSL).  Ken Tilley represented the VHSL and shared the concerns over fairnss issue such as take 5 pass 5. “A basic eligibility requirement is that an individual must be enrolled in a member school as a full-time student in order to represent that school in interscholastic competition. It is impossible to equate academic requirements when one group must attend and pass at least five subjects offered for credit toward graduation and another group has no such requirement.”

Opponents maintain participation in sports is a privilege surrendered when students opt out of the public school system; that home-schoolers might take roster spots from public school students; and that it would be extremely difficult to apply the same academic, attendance and discipline requirements to home-schooled students as to those who are monitored daily in public schools.

Another opponent and former state superintendent of public schools, Ken Bosher,  who generally supports home-schooling said: “I support choice, but if you’ve chosen that, you can’t use public schools as an à la carte system." 

Bell and supporters of the bill, which has appeared in some form for the last 3 sessions,  bring up fairness maintaining it is unfair that student who are home-schooled pay taxes but are denied the chance to play.   Many see this as an issue of choice in our nation which is hard to argue against.  The bill was scripted in such a way requiring  home-schooled athletes to live in their public school districts to play.   Also they must have been home-schooled for at least 2 years to be eligible.  He added the bill would still allow local school districts to set their own participation rules, which could limit or prohibit home-schooled athletes.  The bill will likely be introduced again next year and there is a great deal of sound logic to justify why the law should be changed.  Time will tell if a year will change its fate. 

As a teacher and coach I personally oppose the bill.   Maybe I am just mad and thinking "If our school and teachers are not good enough for you, why should our teams and coaches be?"  That some would only value what our athletics has to offer, just seems hypocritical.  But I am not sure I have a sound position based on reasonable analysis.  That's the rub.  I am not sure why I know it is not a good idea.  On principle I suppose.  I know we are not talking about that many kids and I can't rationalize keeping any deserving kid from benefiting front the experience of team sports.  I wouldn't feel good about denying them that opportunity simply based on how they are educated.  Can I?

I can.  I think this is my best attempt to articulate why.    It's not fair.  As a coach I am unable to keep all who try out.  So next week I'll likely have to look into a few young players' eyes and say, "I'm sorry."  That's not easy and could be argued, its not fair.  Could their parents use the same fairness argument and maintain they should not be excluded since they pay taxes and have even met specific requirement? Increasingly High School sports are less significant to college scholarships in favor of  AAU. Junior Olympics, club soccer being preferred for elite athletes.  Today there are many opportunities to participate in organized sports beyond the schoolhouse door in most communities so they would likely still be able to play.

Further the difference between classrooms and sports is that sports are a privilege, not a right.   I see it that student-athletes have to earn  the honor of representing our school.  How can they do that if they don't even go here?  That privilege can be taken away or even denied based on what most of us agree are acceptable criteria.   Sports do much to further our educational mission and contribute to our sense of community.  The change would undermine some of that and open schools to a lot of sticky situations.  Kids are required to meet certain criteria and not the least  of which is managing it all.   Students and families who want to participate in organized sports may have to make significant sacrifices to do so.   Similarly the freedom afforded to Home-school families costs them in some ways as well and in this case it is the chance to play for a local high school team.   No matter how well they fit in, a home-schooled kid will always be a home-schooled kid. 

Is my logic flawed?  Probably.  Certainly others might see it differently.    I guess I am happy I don't have to make that call.  It is now up to the state to change the law.  Politics being what they are it wouldn't surprise me to see more conservative forces get this through in the near future.   Maybe one day the division or the school will decide.  Maybe even one day me as a coach.  Like I said.  It's complicated. 

There is more to it than that.  I often find myself chanting "Let Them Play".  So the tail end of this post might explain why I do that and shed a little more light on the issues involved though odd metaphor. 

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The debate is much like one of the most "American" films of all time,  Bad News Bears in Breaking Training.  When one of my idols, Kelly Leak,  drove his team of misfits to play the Toros and ended up at the Houston Astrodome in an awesome van.  There, united with his estranged dad, played by William Devane, they had to convince stadium and game officials to "Let Them Play" while another of my idols Tanner Boyle races around evading capture.   I might be underselling the movie or oversimplifying the current discussion.  No matter.  How you see this depends on where you are sitting in the first place.

My observations:
Home-schoolers aren't the bad guys.  Neither were the Toros or the officials who wanted to end the game so the pros could play their game.  They just see things differently.

Its not the same- No matter what the sequel to Bad News Bears could not live up to the experience of the first.  Maybe it is worth the effort, maybe not.  Perhaps the same could be said of allowing Home-schoolers to play.

Kids can't always win-We can't forget the Bears lost in the final game in the original.  Failure is a great teacher and that is why I also don't think no cut is a good idea.  maybe this year the Bears won because of the lessons learned from their loss the previous season.

The Astrodome Scoreboard was awesome- I don't need to add anything to that and feel that the debate in the Senate should have mentioned that somewhere. 





For more on the Issue
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/02/14/senate-panel-sacks-tebow-homeschooling-bill-again/

What Does a Good Education Look Like?

Ever given any thought to that question?  Both members of the TU  were fortunate to receive a good education during our youth, I think.  This was not an accident.  It took hard work from parents, educators and even us.     Stepping back to gain a wider view might be helpful since we are all trying to provide the best for our young people.   We here at the TU have kids in public school, we teach others kids in school and obviously have what we feel is a well informed opinion.   But the phrase "good education" can be nuanced by people for a variety of reasons.  It can mis-characterized,  exaggerated, twisted, falsified, and fabricated so that other purposes may be served. Still I don't think you "get" a good education, you are given an opportunity and then earn it.

When describing a good education people use many differing phrases.  Many of these fail to frame the subject with any degree of specificity.  Instead the terms used glow with ambiguity and define things in a more general sense.  That's not necessarily a bad thing and allows for flexibility.  Effort by many to quantify and replicate what they see as a good a "good" education has produced the opposite result. This may in part be a symptom of only working towards a defined outcome.  It is OK that that phrase has a different meaning to different people and it is more about a process.  With so many buzzwords in the lexicon of education today a quick dialogue on the subject is worthwhile.   It can't hurt to enumerate some things that characterize what our schools should be about.  So let's do so from the point of view of a parent asking for things from a school for their child.


School: "Hi there!  Welcome to our school.  What can we do for you?"

Parent: "Well I have a 9th grade child starting school here tomorrow and would like to make a few requests for things I want for my child."

School: " Go right ahead."

Parent: "First off, my child is very special and I'd like them treated as such.  Just like when I sent them off to Kindergarten I want them to feel safe, loved and gain a sense of independence.   I want them treated as a unique individual with has access to caring and trusted professionals who have a say in the school.  I 'd like my child provided with a rich varied learning diet that imparts key knowledge and skills needed by any well informed  individual.  Preferably emphasizing the normal core subjects.  They'll need math and science, english and of course, history.  Throw in some other languages for good measure.  I'd like them to develop an active and healthy lifestyle so they'll need some physical education classes and also health.  I'd like to stress that they learn to read and write well.  The approach in all of these classes should be innovative but not too far removed from solid trusted foundations. They should learn to think critically about subjects and get to explore things that interest them.   I want them to view their education as an investment in their future, whatever that may be. 

Learning about all of this should help them gain a sense of their own identity.  I want them to develop curiosity and creativity.  Exposure in the arts and music certainly would help with this.    These pursuits should allow my child to grow in non academic ways and have an appreciation of art and music, even if they themselves do not have an talent for them.  I'd like my child to have access to the types of technology that aid us all in the modern world.   I want them to see technology as a powerful tool and not a shortcut.    The school should be well funded so it is not wanting for what it needs.  My child should be given the opportunity for a rich discourse on subjects and learn more than just about it and instead experience it.   

Beyond academics, my child needs to learn to work with others as part of a group.  Whether that is through cooperative projects, on a sports team, club, or in some other fashion I want them to establish positive relationships.  They'll need the skills to become a good communicator.   I want them to learn about leadership and respect. I'd like my child to be nurtured and supported when they need it and I also want them challenged and learn the value of hard work.  I know it won't all be smooth sailing so they'll need to be able to handle conflict and work through it.    They'll need to learn to persevere through adversity and disappointment and learn how to respond to and learn from to failure.  I'd like the school and teachers to be open in communicating things with me so I may aid in all of this.

I want my child to have an equal chance to pursue excellence.  They should learn about honesty and integrity.  I want them to be proud of their work. I want them to learn about  responsibility, dependability and If they don't thrive as much as others I still want them to be safe, happy and know that people care about them.    I want them to learn to be the best they can be.  Beyond themselves, I'd like them to learn to recognize their role in the school, local community and  develop personal responsibility to themselves and all those those around them.   In the end they will want to contribute positively to their community through what they learn.

These are all things I want.  I know it is a great deal to ask.  I just want my child to have a chance at a good education"




Fact is there are many ways to answer that question.  Love to hear input from others beyond this hastily compiled version.   Please feel free to share in the comments.

Leap Year 1996- True Story

I was about six weeks into my student teaching experience.  Twelfth grade U.S. Government, so most of my students were either already eighteen years old or almost there.  As class began, we paused for our daily viewing of Channel One.

I don’t know if Channel One is still around or not, but if you’re not familiar with it, sometime in the 1990’s schools could subscribe to this service.  In exchange for wiring each classroom and providing a television, schools would broadcast a short “news” program each day that students had to watch.  That’s just set-up, here’s the story.

At the end of the broadcast on February 29, 1996, the hosts of the show gave an on camera “shout out” to a friend on his birthday.  They said that it was a special birthday because even though he’s sixteen years old, this was just his fourth birthday.

I was happy at least that the class was paying attention, but one of the student’s didn’t get it.

“What are they talking about Mr. Turner?”

“It’s leap year, so this kid was born on February 29.  We’ve only had a February 29 four times since then so even though he’s sixteen, he’s only had four actual ‘birthdays.’”

“What?  How has he only had four birthdays?”

“I’m sure he’s had birthdays, but if his actual birthday is February 29, then it only happens every four years.”

“Why is that?”

“Leap Year, we add a day to February on  leap years.”

“For what?”

“Do you know what leap year is?”

“No.”

That’s the story.  Remember, eighteen years old, regular education classroom, senior in high school.  I’m not poking fun or belittling this student, but sixteen years later, I still have a vivid memory of this event.

At the time I remember thinking “you can’t teach that.”  Leap year is simply a fact that exists.  I don’t remember when, how, or why I learned it.  If it hadn’t been taught in school, I would imagine that after experiencing leap year at ages 6, 10, and 14 that I would have been expecting it at age 18. 

I started to wonder why this student didn’t know about leap year.  Is there a standard somewhere in the elementary school curriculum?  If so, can we pin-point the right teacher to blame for his lack of knowing about leap year?  If there is no standard, should we create one to make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the future?

At the time, I thought this: if an 18-year old hasn’t had the natural curiosity at some point in his life to wonder why this year has more days than normal, then how can I be expected to generate enough curiosity to make this student care about the government that directs his life in so many ways.  I didn’t have any problem blaming this student for his deficiency of knowledge.  If he doesn’t care enough to learn, how can I be expected to teach him.

I imagine that most people would find one of the preceding two paragraphs offensive—either blaming the system or blaming the student.  I think both of them are flawed.  When teachers blame the student for failure it becomes an excuse to give up.  When politicians and ed reformers blame teachers for failure it becomes an excuse to ignore more critical problems.  In either case, introducing blame sets up an adversarial system that encourages admiration of problems without moving forward into realistic solutions.

Luckily I found this the other day.  So in the spirit of Kahn Academy, there shouldn't be an excuse for anymore American children to not understand the concept of leap year.  All they have to do is log on and watch:

  

High School Students

They say the darndest things. Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby usually dealt with younger subjects than we do but working firsthand with students in high school you gain some invaluable insights.   Get a sense of things by watching the clip below.  So after reading all the evidence in favor of Value Added...just watch this and maybe you'll understand how we can sometimes feel.      :)  

Don't read too much into this.  It's obviously meant to be funny.

As we enjoy an occasional laugh at their expense we must be able to laugh at ourselves.  We keep in mind how much we love our jobs and the opportunity to work with our students.  Oh and we too have been known to say the darndest things.