Again, to be clear--I want young people to be able to play sports. I think it's great that PAC and others like them are organizing home school athletes into teams, and I think they should have opportunities to compete just like any other organized non-public school team.
I still have questions about the fairness of having students who are otherwise no part of a school representing that school in athletic competition. And as most of you know, I am a dealer in rhetorical arguments, so I can't resist digging into the argument itself, regardless of my opinion of the overall issue.
Let's accept, for the sake of analysis, the argument that has been made several times that home schooling is an academic placement choice, made by the parents for the educational and environmental benefit of the students, so it should not be used to deny the students the opportunities for athletic competition at their local public schools.
Therefore (as passed by law), parents who choose the alternative academic placement of home school should still, as taxpaying citizens, be able to send their children to play on athletic teams with the public school for which they are zoned since they would not have the opportunity to play their sport of choice otherwise.
Likewise, the decision to send a child to a private rather than a public school is an academic placement choice, made by the parents for the educational and environmental benefit of the students, so it should not be used to deny the students the opportunities for athletic competition at their local public schools if the private school of choice does not offer the athletic programs desired.
Therefore, parents who choose the alternative academic placement of private school should still, as taxpaying citizens, be able to send their children to play on athletic teams with the public school for which they are zoned since they would not have the opportunity to play their sport of choice otherwise.
No, wait...that's not allowed. Those parents made a decision to place their child in a private institution and therefore the students are limited by the offerings of the chosen institution.
Can someone explain the difference?
