Being a veteran public school marching-band person myself (about 15 years of my past life), there is a tangible "esprit de corps" that involves school spirit: representing ones school and playing/participating to one's best ability to represent that school. Same goes for school sports.
This is stupid.
Reason 42,583,722,508,681,306
I literally hate the people who run this nation's education system
if they pay taxes into the school system, then she should be allowed.
but I think these parents are trying to make some stupid point. Being in the school band means you WANT to represent that school. Obviously she doesnt or else she would go there.
I know of two instances where a public school had no problem letting home schooled student athletes participate in team sports
Article states, "That is: Home-school students should be allowed to participate in any public school activity, as long as they pay taxes and live within the school district."
If this girl doesn't attend school then she is not among the head count for the district, meaining the school does NOT receive any money for her. I have nothing against home-schooling, but with it comes choices and sacrifices - this is one of those sacrifices.
I'm sure special permission would be quickly granted if the home schooled student were male and a talented football player. Our school district also blocked home schooled students from some but not all activities...orchestra is OK, but not sports. It is a matter of time before our District is sued over this stupid policy.
"My band teacher says I'm a good student. And I am first-chair clarinet."
It sounds like she is enrolled at least for one class somewhere.
You can take private music lessons and play solo, but you can't take band unless you are in with other students.
The article isn't clear about this.
Is she home schooled for academics and takes the band class at the school?
"You are probably not going to hear a parent say, ‘I caught my kid smoking so please don't let him play football,'" Tenopir said."
Clueless. This is why they make such bad decisions regarding homeschooling. They have no comprehension of the way it works.
A. I belong to a homeschooling group. We just don't have the behavioral problems schools do, especially the ones based on peer pressure. Yes, we have our bad eggs, a few kids bound for trouble, but it's rare. There is not one kid in our group I have heard of smoking (and believe me, it gets around. The gossip that goes on rivals anything in a public school) The bigger problem among hs is computer related stuff.
B. I have seen hsers deprived of much more than football for infractions. Parents who hs take infractions very seriously - if discipline breaks down with your hser; you are in trouble. I remember when a child was grounded for a month because he failed his Spanish test.
C: HS test regularly (at least once a year) so it is easy to ascertain if they are keeping up grade average. My thought is that as with public students if you want your child to participate in activites they also have to submit proof they are keeping up academically. If the parent doesn't want to do that, well, the public students have to do it so I don't see the discrimination.
Ron Hasley said he's "a constitution kind of guy,"
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Wow, I thought these sorts were extinct...
With the current situation of our Public School system - considering 'The Pledge of Allegiance' has been removed from many systems, 'under God' is under attack, 'The Ten Commandments' has been removed from classrooms - shouldn't we, as Conservative Republicans, be fighting FOR the right to Home school?
Does it not make more sense to take a stand against these things starting with our own families, and hit the Lefties where it hurts - their pocket book? And if we are saving the system money by Home-schooling - then what is the complaint? The fact that they can no longer fill the heads of our children with their Democratic Underground thinking?
Look at what is going on in Universities around the country. Where are these ideas and fights generating? Mainly from those students who have stayed in the public school system, with parents who let the school system raise them ,and have consistently been brain washed by the Left with THEIR ideas of what is Right and Wrong.
As Conservatives - we should most definetly put this high at the top of our list, and fight to educate our children as WE see fit. JK
Seems to me the parents and the girl want it both ways. They want the benefits of school extracurricular activities gained by going to public school without going to school there.
This girl doesn't go to school there. Her parents (and maybe even the girl) have chosen for her not to attend school there. They therefore disqualify the girl from participating in activities that enrolled kids get.
If she wants to be in a school band, enroll in school there. You can't and shouldn't be able to have it both ways. They need to make up their minds what they want.
This sounds a lot like what liberals would whine about.
It could be argued that being officially recorded as a home schooled student qualifies as being registered. Then, a home schooler should even sit in on regular classes or take a course at the public school if desired. Registration for a particular course would have to be the same as any other student. That is more like community college, and maybe it should be so.
This could actually get quite complicated if taxpayers can pick and choose between public and home schooling in a cafeteria style.
By the same token, anyone whose child is not registered in the school shouldn't have to pay to support it.
If she doesn't attend classes, she should be able to participate.
Why not?
Went through this about 10 years ago on behalf of home-schooled athletes, a group in even greater need of "integration" than band-musicians. There's absolutely no logic on the side of public school administrators and teachers in this argument; yet they insist--most often even to their own detriment--to keep the home-schooled isolated from the institution-schooled. Band directors are frequently faculty-members and MIGHT be forgiven for refusing to allow outside musicians, students with whom they have no class-time, to take up limited after-school practice-time learning the director's idiosyncratic signals (easily absorbed in the classroom).
It's far easier for coaches (most of whom nowadays are separate hires anyway) to accept nonresidents on teams because ALL practices are outside the classroom. YET, public school administrators WILL NOT allow home-schooled athletes to participate! It's particularly galling because 1) great athletes aren't limited to the public-school system (and the school could benefit greatly from the influx of more team-competition), and 2) home-schooled GREAT athletes have a much more difficult time getting NCAA athletic scholarships!
Sure, extracurricular activities may be valuable to kids, but if a kid wants to play, shouldn't his family pay the costs associated with the program? Is it really fair to make taxpayers pay so kids can do extracurricular activities, and then limit these taxpayer-funded activities to kids who choose to cost taxpayers even more by attending taxpayer-funded schools, while excluding those who pay for their own education?