A Pioneer in College Football
Tim Tebow, the backup quarterback for the University of Florida, who scored one touchdown and passed for another one last night against Ohio State, comes from a minority group that gets a very small share of attention. Tebow was home-schooled through high school, but still managed to get recruited by a prestigious Division I-A team. He was fortunate to live in Florida, where the law allows home-schooled students to play on public school squads. The parents who choose to educate their own kids at home pay the same taxes that parents of public-schooled students pay. Home schoolers have a right to reap some benefits for the taxes that they pay.
Sixteen states give home-schoolers equal access to public school sports programs, and the Alabama legislature recently considered and tabled (postponed indefinitely) a law that would have made the count 17.
The NCAA is notorious for refusing to grant home-schooled students academic eligibility. A gymnast in the mid-'90s applied and got accepted to a college in Illinois, but the NCAA refused to recognize any of her high school work. They made her take the GED, but she persevered and managed a 4.0 GPA for her first year of college. I'd say she was a few notches above illiterate. Jason Taylor currently plays Safety for the Miami Dolphins. He was home-schooled, but played football in the public school system and got accepted to the University of Akron. The NCAA revoked his scholarship over the academic credit issue, but after some litigation the organization relented and permitted him to play. Now, he makes a living playing football.
The transformation by which home-schooled students can gain recognition for academic work and gradually near a state of equal footing with their public-schooled counterparts will continue to be slow and cumbersome, but Tim Tebow has just given us an excellent icon that everyone will recognize. Hua.
I can't resist: one more story. My best friend in high school applied to Berry College in Rome, Georgia, with a deadly SAT score, (1400+) but the school refused to recognize his high school work and made him take the GED. He graduated from Berry four years later as the VALEDICTORIAN of his class. Obviously, not all home schoolers reach such heights, but those who can do so seldom get the benefit of the doubt.
Sixteen states give home-schoolers equal access to public school sports programs, and the Alabama legislature recently considered and tabled (postponed indefinitely) a law that would have made the count 17.
The NCAA is notorious for refusing to grant home-schooled students academic eligibility. A gymnast in the mid-'90s applied and got accepted to a college in Illinois, but the NCAA refused to recognize any of her high school work. They made her take the GED, but she persevered and managed a 4.0 GPA for her first year of college. I'd say she was a few notches above illiterate. Jason Taylor currently plays Safety for the Miami Dolphins. He was home-schooled, but played football in the public school system and got accepted to the University of Akron. The NCAA revoked his scholarship over the academic credit issue, but after some litigation the organization relented and permitted him to play. Now, he makes a living playing football.
The transformation by which home-schooled students can gain recognition for academic work and gradually near a state of equal footing with their public-schooled counterparts will continue to be slow and cumbersome, but Tim Tebow has just given us an excellent icon that everyone will recognize. Hua.
I can't resist: one more story. My best friend in high school applied to Berry College in Rome, Georgia, with a deadly SAT score, (1400+) but the school refused to recognize his high school work and made him take the GED. He graduated from Berry four years later as the VALEDICTORIAN of his class. Obviously, not all home schoolers reach such heights, but those who can do so seldom get the benefit of the doubt.
posted by Bountyhawk at 3:46 PM
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