For many years THSC has been working to change the law to allow home school students to take part in extracurricular activities in public schools. In the last legislative session, THSC and the home school community supported the passage of SB 1214, which would require that traditional private schools be allowed to compete with public schools in UIL. In fact, THSC has been given credit for moving the bill out of the Texas Senate after the bill was stalled.
With the help of home schoolers, that bill passed out of the Senate three times (once as a stand-alone bill and twice as amendments to House bills). The measure died in the Texas House due to opposition by the Chairman of the Public Education Committee. The bill’s authors had also agreed to accept an amendment in the House that would allow home school students to try out for public school teams in the districts in which they live.
The public school coaches and superintendents were in a feeding frenzy because they thought the measure was going to pass and become law. The Chairman of the Public Education Committee closed that door by holding the bill in committee until it was too late to pass while at the same time telling us he supported the bill. He was defeated in the Republican Primary with the help of THSC PAC.
About two weeks ago I was part of a meeting of private school advocates who discussed whether or not to move forward on this issue again in next year’s legislative session. At that meeting I learned about a meeting the previous week between UIL officials and private school officials in which they discussed establishing a private school division of UIL for private schools.
This week the Houston Chronicle reported on that meeting and its considerations. Some of the private school officials commented that they were surprised that the meeting took place and that they had never seen this level of openness on the issue from UIL officials.
Allow me to place this in political perspective. Public school coaches and superintendents have vehemently opposed private and home school participation for decades. They argue that allowing private schools to participate would “destroy the level playing field enjoyed now in UIL” because private schools “recruit.” This is demonstrably false.
Almost ten years ago two large, affluent private schools sued UIL, and the case was appealed to the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. A state senator convinced UIL to agree to allow these two schools to participate in UIL because it appeared that they were going to lose the case and “the flood gates would open and all private schools in Texas would be allowed in.” UIL agreed, and the two private schools have been competing in UIL for a decade without problem or complaint according to UIL officials.
In fact, UIL officials testified at a public hearing in the Texas House that they would not have a problem implementing such a law because they already have a plan in place. They also pointed out that public school “magnet schools,” which also “recruit” students from beyond their school boundaries, are treated in the same manner as the private schools: They are required to compete at one school size above their actual school size.
The opposition to allowing private and home school students to participate in UIL is indefensible, and the Texas Legislature was on the verge of changing the law in the last session. The opponents of this measure had a political “near-death experience” and they are once again faced with the reality that private schools might be allowed to compete. They have taken an action designed to keep that from happening…set up a “Private School Division” of UIL.
This “Separate but Equal” approach has occurred before in the state of Texas. The Texas legislature established the University Interscholastic League (UIL) in 1913 under the University of Texas, and its original constitution stated its purpose was to enhance the experience of the students of Texas through its activities in order that they might be better prepared to be good citizens of Texas. The original constitution of the UIL explained that it was open to all public and private school students, which included home school students.
UIL instituted discrimination in 1915 by changing its constitution to allow only public schools to participate, and then the next year further limited participation by allowing only “white public schools” to take part. That discrimination against black students forced the establishment of a separate organization through Prairie View A&M (Prairie View Interscholastic League [PVIL]) and the Negro School Division of the State Department of Education to oversee the black public school activities. This continued until the passage of the Federal Civil Rights laws forced the merging of PVIL and UIL in 1970.
Today UIL continues its history of seeking to discriminate against students who wish to participate in UIL, except today it is on the basis of the school that they attend. THSC and the home school community will continue to work this next session, along with other private schools, to see the law changed to allow all private school students equal access to UIL activities. The UIL website notes that “On January 26, 1965, PVIL Director Dr. C.D. Yancy and UIL Director Rodney J. Kidd met to discuss the feasibility of opening membership to all schools.” It is time the legislature requires them to do the same with private schools.
In view of this, THSC PAC is asking legislative candidates to declare their support for this effort. I hope you will contact the legislative candidates in your district and educate them on this issue and ask them to support equal access for private and home school students.
About Tim Lambert
I do have one concern in terms of homeschool/private school participation in UIL activities, and it may be unfounded, but here it goes.
Public schools established a “no pass/no play” policy for participation by public school students in UIL-related activities. In Texas, we, as homeschoolers, currently have no state registration nor reporting requirements for any reason. What is to keep state legislators from requiring both registration and reporting (and eventually other expanded regulation requirements) from all Texas homeschoolers as a condition to allow those few who choose to participate in UIL-related activities to do so?
Marti,
We are using the language from the Arizona statute that is short and simple and requires only that the student has to: home school for at least a year, so that a student could not drop out of public school and home school to avoid other rules; live in the school district in which they are seeking to participate; and parents file an affidavit each reporting period to confirm that the student is passing courses as required by UIL rules.
Of course the opposition from the home school community is what will keep legislators from adopting regulation for these or other home school students. Some people assume that if we don’t seek this kind of freedom we will not have to worry about the state trying to regulate us. However we have to worry about regulation every time the legislature is in session and that is why THSC has a strong presence during each and every legislative session to give testimony against any measure that would erode our freedom and sound the alarm to the home school community when an attempt is made. As has often been said, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Tim,
What do UIL participating schools do to prove to the UIL that their students are passing?
Thanks,
Milo
Milo,
UIL depends on the schools to enforce their rules and only investigates if there are allegations of rules violations.
Tim
Tim,
Could you please give us a general letter or statement to send in or read off for those of us that might be a little more challenged on how to speak to legislative candidates? Also, perhaps the names of these individuals?
On a side note, I am APPAULED and EMBARRASSED at how long it is taking for Texas to allow homeschoolers to play UIL activities. This has nothing to with THSC. Texas has always seemed so “pro homeschool” yet we are so behind in regards to other states.
If you had to give a “guesstimate” how many years do you think it will take for this to go through? My son only has three more years of little league football! haha
Thanks,
Ginny
Ginny,
You should simply ask if they will support equal access to UIL for private and home schools. You can give a link to this blog or the THSC website for more info. You can look at the talking points on this issue by reviewing the issue on this blog from last year.
Find your legislative candidates by checking w your local county officials who handle voter registration.
There is a very good chance that we can pass this legislation next year.
Tim
Please keep us posted as this issue proceeds. This is my 3rd year homeschooling and I actively participated in calling as many legislators as possible during the last legislative session to urge their support for passage of the UIL bill. I affirm your comment on the Chairman who held the bill in committee till it was too late to pass on the floor. I found his office to be particularly frustrating to communicate with.
I’m glad to see from the previous poster that you have a provision or plan in place to address the reporting of grades issue. We have attempted to participate in a private school league this year that allows homeschoolers to be up to 25% of the team. The sticking point was the grades. Their league rules stated that the grading for all athletes needed to be the same as each particular school stipulates. The school insisted that we have the same classes and grading scale as they do. As most homeschoolers know, many of us do not grade all subjects until we are required to in high school. I was not willing to bend to the school’s demands thus my 8th grader is not playing a sport this fall. Disappointing especially since I know 48 other states in our country would allow him to play. Since our school district still seems to be taking all of my tax money I believe full participation is the only fair way to address this issue. Keep up the good work in your lobbying efforts and keep us posted on what we can do to assist in the passage of this important UIL issue.
If the UIL goes with the seperate division for private schools it’s a win for them and almost a step back for private schools. The UIL makes more money in fees from all the new private school members, has control over them and the public schools still don’t have to compete with the private schools. Where are home schooled students after this takes place? Right where we are now.
Tim is correct with this headline of Second Class Citizenship.
Thanks,
Milo
I understand that we pay public school taxes; however, I do not desire passage of this law. We have the best homeschool opportunities in the United States, if not the world, here in Texas. Once we start going down this path, the legislation for homeschooling will be coming and binding us, taking away our freedoms. Sports is nice, but not a necessity. Too many parents put to much emphasis on sports not realizing that the chance of junior getting into a professional sport is very slim. Furthermore, there are a variety of other sports and athletically challenging formats outside of the UIL for children to participate in, even in high school, without putting us in a position that all parents are under guidelines they determine because someone may want to play UIL sports.
Tammy,
I disagree with your assumption that allowing home schools and private schools to compete in UIL will inevitably lead to the loss of our home school freedoms. Arizona, which has similar freedoms, gave home schoolers this freedom almost 15 years ago and they have not suffered a loss of their freedoms and this has been true in other states as well. While home schoolers in urban areas have lots of choices, home schoolers in rural areas of Texas do not. Furthermore, our freedom in Texas did not just “happen” it has been the result of much hard work, a law suit and the constant vigilance of THSC and parents all over the state to work for and to protect that freedom. We should not fear allowing students to continue to home school and also participate in UIL activities as well.
Tim,
You said “The bill’s authors had also agreed to accept an amendment in the House that would allow home school students to try out for public school teams in the districts in which they live.”
Is that the goal? That is what seems fair to me. Private schools already can compete with other private schools. Public schools seem to think it is unfair that they should have to compete against private schools, when private schools can be more selective with who attends there. It seems like if we only aimed for letting homeschoolers try out for the public school (in the district in which they live), everyone would be happier with it.
Am I missing something?
Kori,
We’ve been trying for almost 20 years to get rules or the law changed to let homeschoolers to participate in the public school extra-curricular activities with little success. Many private schools face the same problem that home schoolers face in the rural areas of Texas in having few options for competition. Working with the broader goal of traditional private schools competing against public schools in UIL AND home schoolers in the public schools we got closer than ever before. We believe that this tactic gives us the best chance to see the law changed for the benefit of private schools and homeschool students.
My two oldest sons, middle school aged, currently play sports at an area private christian school that welcomes homeschoolers. However, TAPPS rules require that at the high school level the students must be attending that school at least 1/2 time or 4 classes. Is there any work being done to change this rule at the private school level. Quite frankly, I don’t want my sons playing sports at a public school. Thanks.
Lori,
That rule is the same as the UIL rule: Must be a full-time enrolled student which is defined as 4 hours per day. The state of Texas does not regulate, monitor or oversee private schools…which we support and which gives us our freedom as home schoolers. Therefore, a private school or private school league is free to set their own rules.
TAPPS has systematically made it more and more difficult for homeschool students to participate in private schools in their league. If we change the law, one likely result might be TAPPS changing their rules,since they seem to track UIL rules.
I think some people here are forgetting that sports are not the only thing ruled by UIL. Band, choir, and orchestra are all UIL activities. Not to mention other activities like ready reading and debate.
It is frequently possible to join a Little League team or Upward basketball while they are young–quite possibly a small music class. But those children in rural areas will NEVER get the chance to perform with a major music group without participating in the public school music program or traveling over 100 miles for a rehersal. They won’t even let the children sit in the stands and play with the band at a football game for fear of losing some type of UIL status on their next competition.
It is not just sports that we are talking about here people!
Thanks Tim for all you do!
I just wanted to remind everyone that UIL does not only regulate sports activities. I attended public school and played sports, competed in band and academic competitions. Since I’ve started homeschooling my 2 younger children I have become concerned they will not have the opportunity to be ‘seen’ by college recruiters. Again, this is not just sports. I received a full scholarship for bassoon and was offered several partial ones for basketball. If I had not participated in UIL competitions and did not have the opportunity to perform and meet with college directors, I would have never been given this chance. For my children to receive scholarships, I will have to spent countless dollars on camps and private lessons if they want to go that route. It just makes me sad that they are put at such a disadvantage, not to mention having the opportunity to be in a band or a sports team. If UIL were to allow participation, these organizations would form. It would be great to see a homeschool band at state competition. That would be a proud moment for everyone! (not to mention we’d have to be recognized as normally socialized)
Paula: That’s too funny we wrote the same thing!!! I was just a little late. Your post didn’t come through until my comment reloaded the page!
TAPPS would become non-existent if the UIL includes private schools.
I agree with this as well. However, there are some options I’ve been learning about. A friend of mine joined TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) and her 9th grade daughter represented their “private school” (homeschool) at all region tryouts a couple of weeks ago and actually made the choir. My father and I direct a homeschool band in our area, and although there are several hundred families in our area that homeschool, we struggle to keep 10-12 students in our band. Most homeschool families around here seem unwilling to commit to giving up a couple of hours a week and even some that do, fizzle out by the end of the year.
I also met a young woman this past spring who was homeschooled throughout and went to college on a full tennis scholarship. I found out that I can sign my sons up to play in the public school tennis meets for practice and he can play with the USTA. She did this and actually got ranked in the USTA, called colleges she was interested in and they came to watch her play.
We have to be a little more creative, but there are things out there I didn’t know about until recently. Thanks again to Tim and all your organization does to keep our rights here in Texas.
Lori
Thank you so much on the info for TMEA. I was told that was not possible. There are so many families here that want to have their children in a music organization (Austin area), the problem is, is that the only one available (private school) charges money. Unfortunately, many homeschoolers in this area are on a very limited budget and have to choose activities very carefully.
Unfortunately, schools in our area are homeschool phobic. As Paula said, they won’t even let the students play in the stands. One school used to allow a student march with them as a fill-in in practice, but UIL officials questioned it and they stopped the practice. The same thing happened with a high school basketball team. It’s like we are not even allowed to step foot on school grounds. It would just be so much easier, not to mention more fair, for kids to be able to compete with their peers.