At the heart of every school system should be the commitment to supplying each student with equal opportunities. On May 7, the Alabama House of Representatives tried to express just that by passing the “Tim Tebow Act.” The bill, named after NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, a home-schooled student that played for Nease High School, would allow home-schooled children to play sports at their local public school.

The “Tim Tebow Act” does not require public schools to give home-schooled students a spot on a public school team. It does, however, ensure an opportunity to try out. Home-schooled students would have to meet the public school’s academic requirements and they can only play for the school in which they are zoned for. This opportunity would not be available until the home-schooled student reaches the seventh grade. The bill not only limit itself to athletics, but extends itself to other extracurriculars such as band as well.

In the words of al.com columnist Pepper Bryars, “It’s [all] a matter of rights.” Parents of home-schooled children pay the same taxes that public school parents do — taxes that pay for a school system and faculties that their child does not use. It is only fair that these taxpayers and their children be granted equal access to these services.

The goal of every education system should be to provide equal opportunities for students in the hope of creating well-rounded individuals. Home-schooled students, while excelling from an academic standpoint, are not given the opportunity to excel athletically. Passing the “Tim Tebow Act” would finally give them that chance. Being engaged in athletics teaches kids valuable social skills as well as simultaneously instilling within them a strong, healthy work ethic and teamworking skills. Denying homeschooled students of athletics is denying them the opportunity to better themselves as individuals.

Those in opposition of the “Tim Tebow Act” worry signing it into law would create a double standard and needless competition between the home-schooled kids who are supposedly not subjected to academic requirements, while the public school students are. However, the bill already states that home-schooled students would have to meet the same academic requirements of those in public school. I believe this “double standard” will create healthy competition between the two groups, motivating both groups of athletes to push for the positions they desire.
Alabama has a unique opportunity to join alongside 28 other states and enhance its public education system for the betterment of its students. Passing the “Tim Tebow Act” would not only create equal opportunities for home-schooled students, but also give them the chance to improve themselves socially, mentally and physically. Now is not the time to stall, but to act.