HB1297/SB1356

The [TSSAA] Legislative Council amended Article IV, Section 1 to now state:

A member of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association is permitted to play or scrimmage any secondary school with grades 9 and above in regular season play.

For purposes of this rule, a school team may be one school or a cooperative program of one or more schools.

We will also add the following to the definitions section:

School team – An entity comprised of one or more students in a school, under the control and conduct of the school, which represents the school in interscholastic athletic competition.

This is much better than a straight no vote, in my opinion. Part of the frustration in working with TSSAA has been their control of the issue. Both Mike Bell and I should be contacted by Sen. Bryson's staff when these meetings are scheduled and we'll pass that information on to you all so you can make plans to attend or provide your input. You are free to ask Sen. Bryson to also inform you about those hearings. Those hearings will not occur until after this current session closes which usually occurs in May, and the legislators have a moment to reacquaint themselves with their families.

At the same time MTHEA's Doug Fraley was appearing on Nashville's cable channel 50 providing a homeschooler's point of view. Doug is the father of John Fraley who spoke to the Senate Education Committee (you can read John's comments below). TSSAA Executive Director Ronnie Carter was originally scheduled to appear opposite Doug but late yesterday afternoon said he was unable to attend. Tennessee Education Association President  Judy Beasley took his place. According to Doug there was some concern about how homeschoolers would meet academic qualifications and discussion of the fact that public school grading isn't standardized and can be unfair from system to system.  According to others also commented on was perhaps refunding tax dollars to homeschoolers, how many homeschoolers might actually participate, and why TSSAA teams were barred from playing homeschool teams. I have a copy of the broadcast and will update this page when I've had a chance to view it.

4/12/05: MTHEA Board member Doug Fraley will appear on Nashville's Newschannel 5+ along with Ronnie Carter, Executive Director of TSSAA to discuss the extracurricular bill, SB1356. The phone number to call in and ask a question is 615-737-7587.

At about nearly the same time the Senate Education Committee will be hearing SB1356, Room 12/14 of Legislative Plaza at 8:30 a.m.

I have posted the comments I faxed to the Senate Education committee today to http://TnHomeEd.com/THE041205.html for your review.

 4/8/05: The TEA weekly legislative report is still urging opposition to SB1356. The following is from: http://teateachers.org/legreports/currentreport.htm and dated April 8, 2005

.Home-Schoolers “Opt In and Out” Bill Gets Hearing/Testimony
Key Vote on TEA-Opposed Bill Possible as Early as Next Week

            Legislation which would require that home-schoolers be allowed to participate in public school athletics and other activities was discussed in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, April 6, but no vote was taken.  Testimony was presented by home-school students in support of the proposal.  Bob Baldridge, representing TSSAA, spoke against the legislation.  TEA strongly opposes this bill for several reasons including:

• Students have every right to participate in public school activities, but they should be  “in or out.”  Under this proposal, students could “opt out” of academics, but be allowed to participate in sports and other activities.
   

• Most home schooled students are not registered with local directors of schools.  This has serious implications for testing and grading responsibilities, and academic eligibility for participation in athletics.
   

• According to a TSSAA survey, 96% of public schools oppose home-schoolers participating in public school athletics.
   

• The bill raises many issues relative to academic standards, funding, and educator liability.

          TEA members are urged to contact the Senate Education Committee and ask that they vote “NO” on SB 1356, sponsored by Sen. Jim Bryson (R-Franklin).  Below is contact information for the Senate Education Committee members.

4/8/05: Letters to the Editor of the Tennessean for and against homeschooler participation can be found on their Opinions pages for Wednesday 4/6/05, Thursday 4/7/05, and Friday, 4/8/05. You'll need to scroll down to locate the letters.

4/6/05: Extra-curricular bill was partially heard today and rolled until next Wednesday, April 13, 2005.  Please note that there was an amendment to the legislation which completely replaced the original bill. Since the state doesn't have it on the website yet Senator Bryson's office provided me a copy and I've uploaded it at http://TnHomeEd.com/SB1356A1-2005.html

Here’s an overview of this morning’s Senate Education Committee hearing on SB1356 allowing homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular activities. In the next couple of days I’ll have uploaded to the TnHomeEd website more historical information regarding two previous attempts to pass this sort of legislation, details of my previous conversations with TSSAA personnel and links to at least one lawsuit against TSSAA, the guidelines they wrote in December of 2001. I did tape the session and will try and provide a transcript as I have time.

SB1356 was introduced and its sponsor, Senator James Bryson (R-Franklin) offered an amendment to his legislation. I’m waiting for a faxed copy of that amendment since it’s not appearing on the state’s website. The change removed ‘private schools’ from the legislation. It was opined that they didn’t want to be linked with us in this matter. I don’t know anymore than that.

Senator Bryson said that one year ago he spoke with THEA and TSSAA and told them to work together and come to some agreement. If nothing happened he’d introduce this legislation.

Mike Bell (THEA lobbyist) was introduced. He said homeschoolers had been dealing with TSSAA since 1993 in 2001 Senator McNalley introduced legislation (SB1345—I’ll get this up on the TnHomeEd site as quickly as I can). TSSAA had a committee study the issue and guidelines were written but not implemented since 94% of their schools were against homeschooler participation. Mike then introduced:

John Fraley of Clarksville. I’ve uploaded John’s speech to http://TnHomeEd.com/JFraley040605.html  . John explained that he was 6’8”, wears a size 19 shoe and does play basketball. He’s a starter for the Varsity Boys team of the Nashville Central Christian Warriors which won the championship at the National Homeschool Basketball Tournament in Wichita, KS in March.

“One of the main reasons I want this bill to be passed is to challenge and improve my skills. Right now I’m limited in opportunities and can’t play the best teams in the state. We can’t play against other state teams to challenge us and to get the chance to beat them! Because of our winning record, many homeschooled and private school teams will no longer schedule with us.

I’m also limited in being able to be seen by college scouts – so I don’t have the same chances as public school athletes to compete for those scholarships or even be invited to join the team.”

Senator Cohen then asked John a couple of questions. The first being if he knew an athlete named Jonathan Lowe (?) who apparently was “the best athlete but no one knew him”. He ended up attending Ole Miss according to Cohen. Cohen went on to say ”if you're good you’ll get your chance”. He then asked John what his favorite subject was. John replied biology and explained that he was part of a tutorial. He would gather with other students to do some of the work, labs and such and then do some of the text work at home. Cohen then asked if athletic competition challenges you and helps you improve your skills why wouldn’t academic competition in the classroom? That’s not an exact quote. The point being, as I understood it, that John may not be being challenged academically despite his saying that he participates in a cooperative for his favorite subject, biology. (After the hearing a gentlemen from Memphis, whose name escapes me at this time, said that Jonathan had to enroll in public school for his senior year in order to be seen by those scouts.)

At this point Chairman Jamie Hagood (R-Knoxville) interrupted and asked the committee to focus on the extracurricular aspects.

Hannah Smith of Knoxville was next to testify. I’ve uploaded her speech at http://TnHomeEd.com/HSmith040605.html  . Hannah was previously from Florida where she could participate in extracurricular activities as a homeschooler and was “severely disappointed to find that I couldn’t play any sport for any high school team in the state. That’s why I ask that we take a fresh look at the idea of home-schooled students participating in public school athletics, and explain why I, and others like me, want to participate.” She also quoted from NH and FL public school coaches and their appreciation of homeschooled team members.


Will Boyd of Dayton was the final student to testify. The talking points Will spoke from are at http://TnHomeEd.com/WBoyd040605.html .  Will asserted that the prohibition against homeschoolers was unconstitutional and that Tennessee was capable of achieving cooperation between homeschoolers and the TSSAA. Will said there were four necessities for extracurricular activities: 1. a group, 2. adult expertise, 3. facilities, and 4, funding. Will further stated that there was no law prohibiting or mandating equal access and that 18 states had extended this opportunity to homeschoolers and no one had rescinded their decision.

TSSAA Assistant Executive Director Bob Baldridge: by this time the committee had only 1 ½ minutes for the TSSAA spokesperson (the previous discussion of the K-12 budget having taken up the first half hour of the hearing).  I've uploaded a transcript of TSSAA Assistant Executive Director Bob Baldridge's testimony and the end of the hearing at http://TnHomeEd.com/BBaldridge040605.html .

 And you'll find notes of my previous conversations with Bob Baldridge and Page Walley, TSSAA's designated homeschool representative, in 2001 about this issue at http://TnHomeEd.com/TSSAA0201.html .

4/5/05: According to the Chattanoogan of 4/3/05 the list of organizations opposed to homeschoolers participating in extra-curricular activities in public schools has expanded. Along with the TSSAA and the TEA are Tennessee School Boards Association, Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents, Tennessee Association of Secondary School Principals and Association of Independent/Municipal Schools. Apparently, they're pulling out the bigger guns folks. Keep those letters, faxes and phone calls coming. Contact info for the Senate Education Committee is here. This is set for hearing with them THIS Wednesday, April 6, 8:30 a.m. Room 12/14 of Legislative Plaza. You can print a copy of the agenda from here. SB1356 is currently first on the agenda, but that's not a guarantee it will be.

4/1/05: TEA Legislative alert again opposes the extra-curricular legislation. The following is from their legislative update of 4/1/05 at: http://teateachers.org/legreports/currentreport.htm

"Proposal Lets Home Schoolers “Pick and Choose” Activities
TSSAA Labels Legislation a “Pandora’s Box” – TEA Agrees!

            Pending legislation would require that students “enrolled in private, non-public, or church-related schools” could not be prohibited from participating in public school programs “including, but not limited to, high school athletics and athletic teams, music, art, and drama.”  The bill is strongly opposed by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) along with many other education groups, including the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA), and TEA.  The language states:

If a child is a student in a private, non-public or church related school which does not offer an extra-curricular activity which is offered by the public school in the district where the affected student resides, that student shall be permitted to participate in the extra-curricular activity of the public school to which the affected student would otherwise be zoned to attend.

TEA strongly opposes this legislation for several reasons:

• Students have every right to participate in public school activities, but they should be “in or out.”  Under this proposal, students could “opt out” of academics, but be allowed to participate in sports and other activities.

• Most home schooled students are not registered with local directors of schools.  This has serious implications for testing and grading responsibilities, and academic eligibility for participation in athletics.

• According to a TSSAA survey, 96% of public schools oppose home-schoolers participating in public school athletics.

• The bill raises many issues relative to academic standards, funding, and educator liability.

             In short, this is a bad proposal!  TEA members are urged to contact members of the Senate and House Education Committees and ask that they vote “NO” on SB 1356/HB 1297 sponsored by Sen. Jim Bryson (R-Franklin) and Rep. Beth Harwell (R-Nashville).  The legislation is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, April 6.  A complete list of Senate Education Committee members is carried in this report."

3/31/05: SB1356/HB1297 (Extra-curricular bill) has been placed on the Senate Education Committee Calendar for April 6, 2005, Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Room 12/14. You'll find contact information for this committee here.  You can download a copy of the agenda from here on Monday the 4th so you'll have a better idea of when the bill will be heard. Bills are heard out of order so this list isn't written in stone. In order for this to pass parents will have to make a concerted effort to contact these legislators. The TSSAA and the TEA have both voiced their strong opposition. You can find details of their opposition below and above.

3/23/05: THEA's Mike Bell is reporting that SB1356 (the extra-curricular bill) is next tentatively scheduled for April 6, 8:30 a.m. in the Senate Education Committee. Contact info for that committee can be found at http://TnHomeEd.com/LContact.htm .

3/16/05: THEA has posted a summation of TSSAA's letter on the extra-curricular legislation to their website at http://tnhea.org/legislation.htm#summary .

3/14/05:THEA's attorney, Jeff Atherton's 7 page response to TSSAA letter in opposition to the extra-curricular legislation can be found here. According to THEA's Mike Bell they cannot release copies of the original letter because we don't have permission from either the author (the TSSAA attorney) or it's addressee (TSSAA Executive Director Ronnie Carter). I have contacted TSSAA's Bob Baldridge for a copy and he said they were a busy volunteer organization and I should get a copy from the legislator sponsoring the bill. I've got a message in to Executive Director Carter and will let you know if I get a response.

Here's a pertinent paragraph from page 6 of Attorney Atherton's letter.

“The conclusion of [TSSAA attorney] Colbert’s correspondence, namely, that the General Assembly would be better served to let the TSSAA continue to maintain the monopoly of the regulation of secondary school athletics, infers that the TSSAA will be benign and benevolent concerning the passing of bylaws to be more inclusive of Tennessee secondary school students. The fact, as noted earlier, in this correspondence, is that the TSSAA has simply not been benign nor benevolent when dealing with those Tennessee school children who, as a result of their parents’ educational decisions, have no access to certain education, albeit extracurricular, activities offered by the public schools. As Mr. Colbert notes, “interscholastic athletics represent an integral part of the education at the secondary level. “There is certainly no argument with this assertion. He notes, however, that the decisions about these matters are better left to the “educators.” Fortunately, however, education at the secondary level is not a matter exclusively within the purview of “educators,” but rather, is a specific and constitutional duty of the General Assembly as provided by Article II Section 12 of the Tennessee Constitution. If the TSSAA had altered its bylaws in response to the requests of both legislators and individuals to include opportunities for all Tennessee school students, then the need for this legislation may not have arisen. The “educators”, as referred to in the correspondence, have not addressed the need to provide equal educational opportunities and therefore, action by the General Assembly, with legislation such as SB1356 and consistent with the terms and provisions of the Tennessee Constitution, is required.”

3/12/05: THEA Mike Bell's recent legislative report states:

We now have a target date for the bill (SB1356/HB1297) to allow home educated students to participate in public school extracurricular activities. This bill will be heard in the Senate Education Committee at Wednesday 8:30, on March 30th. Click here for TnHomeEd's link to the Senate Education Committee contact info, including a link to e-mail them all at one time.

There will be one change to this bill before in gets to committee. Our sponsors have heard from several legislators who are concerned that we included private and non-public students in this bill. An amendment will be filed that will narrow the bill down to include only students who are enrolled in church related schools and students enrolled in home schools.

3/9/05: The Tennessee Teacher's Union is against the extra-curricular legislation in their March 4, 2005 legislative report.

http://www.teateachers.org/legreports/currentreport.htm

Involve Private/Home School Students in Public School Activities?
Athletics, Music, Art, and Drama Specifically Would Be Required

Legislation has been proposed which would require that students enrolled in private, non-public, or church related schools could not be prohibited from participating in public school programs including but not limited to, high school athletics and athletic teams, music, art, and drama. The bill states:

"If a child is a student in a private, non-public or church related school which does not offer an extra-curricular activity which is offered by the public school in the district where the affected student resides, that student shall be permitted to participate in the extra-curricular activity of the public school to which the affected student would otherwise be zoned to attend."

Another section of the bill also extends to home-schooled students the legal right to participate.  The proposed legislation basically allows private, church related schools, and home-schooled students the right to pick and choose various aspects of the public school program in which they want to participate.  TEA will strongly oppose this legislation due to its funding implications and liability issues.  TEA also believes if the issue is choice parents have every right to choose to send their children to public schools, but should not be allowed to opt in and out of public school programs and activities. This very ill-advised legislation is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Jim Bryson (R-Franklin) and in the House by Rep. Beth Harwell (R-Nashville).  TEA members are urged to contact members of the Senate and House Education Committees and ask that they vote "NO" on SB 1356/HB 1297.

[Emphasis in the original.]

3/2/05:  

HB0504 (Merit Scholarship) has been assigned to the Higher Education Sub-Committee of the Education Committee. Here is the contact information for the Higher Education Sub-Committee.

HB1297 (Extra-Curricular) has been assigned to the K-12 Sub-Committee of the Education Committee. Here is the contact information for the K-12 Sub-Committee. 

2/25/05: We're still waiting for the Extra-curricular bills and the Merit Scholarship equity legislation to be scheduled for committee hearings.