Many are not aware, but Tim Tebow was home-schooled. In fact, a law was passed in Florida in 1996 which is informally known as the “Tim Tebow law.” The law gave Tebow a chance to play for local public and private schools. That year, Tebow played football at a local public high school and led his team to a state championship. The rest, as we know, is history.
According to the Washington Post, the law is now gaining momentum in the state of Virginia. Three bills in the Virginia legislature have been modeled after the Florida law, and Gov. Bob McDonnell and the largely-Republican Senate are in favor.
However, Chairman of the House Education Committee Robert Tata has raised the same concern I would have. If a child goes to a particular school, he or she is going to participate in athletic competition for that school. If he or she is home-schooled and has to pick a school to play for, you would have to worry about high school coaches recruiting top talent. Isn’t that enough of an issue at the collegiate level?
Parents who pay the same taxes as students who attend school argue that their children should have access to the same athletic teams. That is a valid point, and over a million American children are home-schooled each year. However, the recruiting issue is a legitimate concern. There isn’t one organization like the NCAA that could monitor and prevent such activity. That alone, in my opinion, makes passing the law a risky endeavor.
