Tina Freitas: Home Schoolers Need Not Apply

By Tina Freitas

Home schoolers need not apply….

That might as well be the message that thousands of students in Virginia were sent last week in the Virginia General Assembly.

I found it interesting to watch as House Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly cast their votes on two pieces of legislation before the House Education Committee last week.

The bill, commonly known as the “Tebow Bill,” was very limited and asked for local school boards to make the decisions with regard to student participation in sports, as long as home school students met the same academic requirements as students enrolled in public school. There were a number of criteria and requirements in the bill which were all designed to address objections raised by public school administrators and teachers unions over the last several years.

Oddly enough, despite the constant calls for greater local control of education by many of the same groups who usually want to be able to make more decisions at the local level, these same groups decided that when it comes to denying access and opportunity to students in their own localities, they would prefer that Richmond say “no” for them so that they don’t have to confront the hundreds of tax paying parents in their own counties.

In sessions past these same groups, of which the VEA is prominent, have even paraded students from public schools into committee to testify. Encouraging them to say a whole host of things like, this is “our” school, and “we don’t want those kids on our teams!”

“Those kids?” “Our team?” Those kids are my children. Those kids are citizens of Virginia. Those kids are not foreigners or trespassers on your sovereign soil! The parents of those kids pay their taxes. They don’t pay less just because they are not using a government institution to educate their children. In fact, the act of parents educating their children at home actually relieves overcrowding at our schools and increases the per pupil spending in our public education system.

The students who testified were essentially coaxed into vocalizing blatant xenophobia toward children who have been placed on a different educational path than them.

Is it any wonder that we are dealing with bullying issues at our public schools when students are encouraged to treat others as if they are too different and somehow less worthy to be on their teams because their educational needs are met by alternative means? Does anyone else see a correlation here?

To make matters worse, the same Democrats who voted to deny Virginia home school students equal access to athletic programs then turned right around and voted for in state tuition for college students in the country illegally.

I certainly have sympathy for a young person who was smuggled across the border through no choice of their own. However, it amazes me to observe that the compassion so readily available for these students, and the forgiveness so readily provided to parents who deliberately broke our laws is categorically denied to Virginia citizens and legal residents who home school.

The obvious contradiction and willingness to deny equality of opportunity to constituents who have different educational needs demonstrates an open hostility toward homeschool families from many of the Democrats in the General Assembly. What ever happened to embracing diversity, and coexistence? Does this concept not apply to diversity in education and home school children?

I used to believe that “public education” was supposed to be about ensuring that each student is provided with quality educational opportunities. Sadly, I am learning that it is becoming exponentially more about power and control, and less about the needs of the student.

I have no desire to control the education of other students. I have no desire to deny them access to the programs their taxes have paid for. I just want people to have the freedom to choose the individual options that work for them.

I find it absurd to have my children singled out as outsiders and denied access to the programs I pay taxes for, simply because I am unwilling to hand them over to an educational apparatus that limits teachers, pushes unhealthy and problematic curriculum, and treats them like an outcast unless they conform.

Tina Freitas is an activist in the conservative movement, advocating for greater individual liberty and equal protection before the law. She is a past president of the Founding Fathers Republican Women in Culpeper. Tina lives in Culpeper with her husband Nick and homeschools their three children Lilly, Luke, and Ally.

Also from Bearing Drift….
-2018: ‘Tebow Bill’ Defeated By Republican-Led Education Committee – UPDATED
-2017: Concerns Addressed as Optimism Grows for Passage of ‘Tebow Bill’
-2017: McAuliffe Vetoes ‘Tebow Bill’ for Third Time
-2013: Déjà vu: Tebow Bill again sacked by GOP Senator Harry Blevins
-2012: Senator Harry Blevins Kills ‘Tebow Bill’