tdaxp

"Home-schooled students want part in public school activities," by Claudette Riley, Tennessean, 4 April 2005, http://tennessean.com/education/archives/05/03/67794851.shtml?Element_ID=67794851.

"Education Is Not a Menu," by MichiganVote, Democratic Underground, 4 April 2005, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1366125&mesg_id=1366185.

Tennessee is pondering allowing home-scholars to particpated in extra-curricular (non academic) activities)

Families who don't want their children attending public schools do want them to be able to play on public school sports teams.

The Tennessee Home Education Association is backing legislation that would allow students who are taught at home — and those in small private schools — to play high school sports and participate in such extracurricular activities as art, drama and music in public schools.

''It's about equal access,'' said Mike Bell, a THEA lobbyist who teaches his kids at home. ''This is about giving all Tennessee children equal access to publicly funded facilities and activities.''

Accidentally, a DU poster makes an insightful comment

Education is not a menu. Arts and Music are courses that students receive a grade on. If homeschoolers take part in these items in a school system, they must become part of the head count. The problem in the idea of home schoolers taking part in alacart' education is that it then opens the door to private school students also saying, 'hey, I want to take Art or Music at this public facility as opposed to my private school which spends all its money on religion or some other program. PE is a course that is also required in most HS curricula. In some cases private school or home school parents want their kids to have band but then they don't want to abide by the requirements.

Great point. Why is education not a menu?

I took college classes in high school. I received high-school credit for them. But why limit it there?

Apprenticing at an auto-shop would give tech students a better education than a shop class. Apprenticing at a local theatre is more useful than taking a theatre class. What is the purpose of bundling mathematics, music, and football in a take-it-or-leave-it deal? If a student can learn mathematics from an online university across the sea, A/V from a local ad agency, and baseball from a local high school, why not let him?

Why keep centralized, socialist, archaic, and failed public secondary schools when the international market offers so much more?