Every parent wants the best for his/her child. As more and more families transition to homeschooling, they do not want to give up the opportunity for their children to play a challenging and character-building sport.
The issue of homeschool-student participation in public school sports comes back to the forefront as every new school year begins. There are arguments both for and against and I will try to briefly discuss them here in order to give you a better idea of where we currently stand in CT. I will also present you with lots of places to go to better understand the issue.
Q: Can homeschool children currently play sports with their publicly educated peers?
A: The answer to this question is no, based on CIAC requirements. This quote from Attorney Marybeth Sullivan explains it clearly:
“Generally speaking, home-schooled students are not permitted to play on their neighborhood public school’s sports teams, while choice and private school students are allowed only if their school offers no sports programs of any kind and at the discretion of the neighborhood public school. These eligibility rules are not a matter of state law or policy, but rather are established by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC). Boards of education have delegated their legal authority to oversee interscholastic sports in the state to CIAC, a private, nonprofit organization.” – MaryBeth Sullivan, Senior Legislative Attorney, Office of Legislative Research
To read the entire document presented by the Office of Legislative Research, go here.
The actual CIAC policy states:
“HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS: Eligibility to participate in interscholastic athletics is not to be extended to any student whose program is not under the direct supervision of a CIAC member school.”
For more details, click here.
Q: What is the “Tim Tebow” law?
The Legislation has been passed in over 20 states to follow the Tim Tebow law allowing homeschool children access to public education sports program. Tim Tebow is a famous homeschooler turned football star.
Here is a complete list of states who passed this law.
Here is more information on the law.
Q: What are the arguments for and against homeschool students being allowed to play on public teams?
The homeschool community is divided on this issue. Some homeschoolers feel their children should have access to these sports programs and that it is vital to their educational experience.
Others feel that passing a law or demanding access would only open the door for interference into the homeschooling community by local, state and federal governments. People are very passionate about this issue and are concerned that it would be a slippery slope leading to more and more control over homeschoolers.
A very important issue: Freedom
As you know, Connecticut is one of the most open states to homeschool in. Looking at the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) map for state-by-state legislation, you will see that there are only a few green states and Connecticut is one of them (surrounded in a sea of red, I might add).
Maintaining our freedom to homeschool in Connecticut has required that the homeschoolers that came before us sacrificed their time and energy to contact their legislators, show up at the Capitol, speak up and even protest at times. The freedom you enjoy has been carved out by those who came before you.
The concern that surrounds the sports issue is that many states who have passed a law to allow homeschoolers to play public sports have had to sacrifice some of their freedoms to do so.
For example: Missouri, a “green” state on the HSLDA map passed the Tim Tebow law but now in order for home-education students to play sports, they must be partially enrolled in the public school system to play. The same goes for the “green” states of Illinois and Michigan. So, be warned that receiving access to these programs could literally cost you your homeschooling freedom.
And that is why, in my opinion, you will not find a lot of seasoned homeschoolers pushing for access to public education sports.
But we have plenty of options! If you are looking for places for your kids to get involved in athletics, check out my post: CT Sports Programs that Accept Homeschoolers.
CT Homeschool Mom 
Great article Jen! One additional reason under freedom is that not only does it compromise the freedom of the homeschooling families who participate, but if done through the legislature it would require defining the terms “homeschooled” “home education” etc… in the statute. This is one area where I am in total agreement with Deb. And every state that has Tebow Laws either already had, or needed to add, definitions of home education and some form of regulation. That ends up affecting all homeschoolers whether they participate or not. Ex the requirements in FL: Section 228.041(34), F.S., defines a home education program as a sequentially progressive instruction of a student in his or her home by his or her parent or guardian in order to satisfy the requirements of regular school attendance. To satisfy the requirements of regular school attendance, pursuant to s. 232.02(4), F.S., the parent must: Hold a valid regular Florida teaching certificate File a written notice with the superintendent, maintain records, materials and logs for 2 years, and provide an annual evaluation documenting student’s progress.
Debi actually approached the CIAC back in the ’80s-’90s? and was presented with some version of the above if homeschoolers wanted to participate, so we could have back then – but NO thank you! Can you imagine how quickly that would become the rules for everyone? I’m going to save this statute in my FAQ files for the next person who argues “But it would only effect the ones who choose to participate!”
As an aside -this will also be the issue when they start offering ESA’s, tax Incentives, vouchers (AKA government money) to homeschoolers, as already they have in proposed bills for the past 2 years here. TEACH will be doing a big informational push this year – to conservative legislators, to homeschoolers, to group leaders – regarding the bait and switch of government funds of any kind, and the lie that requirements for homeschoolers who take the funds. will not affect the homeschoolers who don’t. That lasts all of one year and then they enact legislation that changes it. I have a lot of great information and examples from other states and I’d love it if we could work together on it! I truly believe this is going to be the next net they will try – and may succede if we don’t get out in front of it. Let’s talk more? Donna PS – we are up to about 130 pre-registered for Capitol Day! yikes ________________________________
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