PENNSYLVANIA Bill would open districts' teams to home-schoolers

Opponents are wondering how eligibility requirements would be monitored.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Home-schooled students in all of Pennsylvania's districts would have the opportunity to try out for public school sports teams, audition for plays and musicals, or join clubs under a measure passed by the state House of Representatives.
State law currently lets local school districts decide whether to grant home-schoolers access to extracurricular activities, and 242 of Pennsylvania's 501 districts allow them to do so, says the Department of Education.
Rep. Robert Godshall, who sponsored the measure, said it is unfair for school districts to exclude home-schoolers from participating, since their parents are still required to pay local school taxes.
"In my own school district ... when I have asked for different kids to be allowed to participate, the superintendent told me, 'If we're not good enough to educate the kids, then we don't want them in our activities,"' said Godshall, R-Montgomery. "These kids are being denied because of vindictiveness and punishment."
Fourteen states nationwide have state laws or policies that give home-schoolers access to public school activities, says the Home School Legal Defense Association in Purcellville, Va.
About 24,000 Pennsylvania children were home-schooled during the 2001-02 school year, compared to 1.8 million who were enrolled in public schools, says the Department of Education.
Status of bill
Godshall's proposal was approved last week 149-51 as an amendment to an education bill intended to strengthen school district residency requirements. Similar legislation was introduced last year but died in committee.
The amended bill passed unanimously and goes to the Senate for consideration.
Opponents of the measure wondered how school districts would ensure that home-schoolers meet the same eligibility requirements for participating in sports that are imposed on public school students. They also argued that school districts should retain the authority to set their own policies.
"I firmly believe that our local elected school officials know much better than we do. They are in place to raise and levy taxes," said Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, D-Cumberland. "I think the fact that the current law empowers school districts to make this decision is satisfactory, and I think we ought to leave it right there."
Pleased parent
Peter Hrycenko, who has been lobbying the Allentown school district to allow his 17-year-old son, Nestor, to try out for the soccer team, said he was pleased to see the bill move forward.
"I'm grateful to all of those in the House of Representatives who have voted to get that open door," he said. "It just makes it easier, instead of fighting it from school district to school district."
The Allentown school board is currently considering adopting a policy that would allow home-schooled students to participate in a "limited" number of activities, primarily sports, vice president Jeff Glazier said.
Glazier said he was concerned that the state legislation was "overly broad" in requiring home-schooler access to other types of activities.
"Harrisburg is on a continual march to take control away from local school boards," he said. "In this instance, the Legislature just runs roughshod over us."