If the next Tim Tebow is out there in Virginia waiting to be discovered, he’d better enroll in a school.
A bill named after the home-schooled NFL star quarterback died at the hands of a Senate committee Thursday. The measure would have allowed home-schooled students to participate in interscholastic activities, like sports or debate team, at public schools.
Tebow was taught at home and played football for a local Florida high school.
The bill passed the House of Delegates but even some Republicans chose not to endorse it, setting the stage for a shaky future in the Senate. That came to fruition Thursday morning when Republican Sen. Harry Blevins of Chesapeake joined Democrats on the Senate Health and Education Committee in killing it.
Opponents said if parents choose not to send their kids to public schools they shouldn’t receive any of the benefits those institutions provide.
Proponents countered that the kids deserved an opportunity to participate on the same level as their peers attending traditional schools.
More Virginia parents are choosing to pull their kids out of local schools and teach them at home. Since 2003, the number of home-schooled children in the state grew from 16,542 to nearly 25,000.
The same Senate committee also voted to kill a bill that would have allowed every school district in the state to open their doors before Labor Day. Gov. Bob McDonnell pushed the measure as an important piece of his education agenda, but lawmakers from tourism-heavy districts said it would hurt businesses that rely on young workers during the summer.
