If you live in North Carolina, and you home school, you have probably been asked many times “what about sports?” Probably the only question asked more than that is the one about socialization.

Welcome!  We are a group of citizens of the great state of North Carolina lobbying for our state public education establishment to allow homeschooled students equal access to sports.

(Please be sure to visit our FAQ page (Frequently Asked Questions) for more indepth information which addresses concerns that some homeschool families may have about this legislation!)

Forty-one of our N.C Senators and Representatives have officially supported and sponsored legislation that would provide even broader freedoms and equal access for our homeschool students!

Legislation which would provide this access has been introduced into the North Carolina Legislature.  This effort began in 2008.  Legislation was then submitted in 2009 in the North Carolina Senate. In 2009 the bill was sponsored by Senator Jim Jacumin as Senate Bill 259.  SB 259 was never heard in the committee to which it was referred and, therefore, did not make the crossover deadline of May 14th when any bill had to have passed through one chamber in order to be eligible for consideration this session.  Senator Jacumin will pursue re-introducing a similar bill next session (May, 2010) if it can be crafted such that it affects the budget, which is a requirement for bills considered in the even-year, “short” sessions.

WE MUST CONTACT THE SENATORS WHO ARE SPONSORING THIS!!

Here is the link to the pdf of Senate Bill 259:

NC State Senate Bill 259 

Also… In March 2009 Senate Bill 1012 was introduced which was entitled “An Act To Establish The Legislative Study Committee On The Participation Of Home School Students In Classes And Extracurricular Activities At Public Schools”. And once again this Bill died in committee as well for the same reasons as the other.

Here is the link to the pdf of Senate Bill 1012:

NC State Senate Bill 1012

Likewise the General Assembly of North Carolina also  considered similar legislation when House Bill 1116 “An Act To Permit Home Schooled Students To Participate In Interscholastic Sports” & House Bill 1013 “Homeschoolers Participate in School Sports” were introduced in April of 2009. These  Bills were sponsored by Representatives Cleveland,  Glazier, Hilton and Tillis. They were co-sponsored by 16 other Representatives. Unfortunately both Bills died in committee back in the spring for the same reasons as Senate Bill 259 and Senate Bill 1012.

WE MUST CONTACT THE REPRESENTATIVES WHO ARE SPONSORING THIS!!

Here is the link to the pdf of House Bill 1116:

NC House Bill 1116

Here is the link to the pdf of House Bill 1013:

NC House Bill 1013

We are deeply appreciative for the outstanding legislators who are willing to help our students and schools by sponsoring this legislation.

While Senate Bills 259 & 1012 and House Bills 1116 & 1013 were not officially called the “Tebow Law”, many states are considering bills similar to these based on the incredible football career of Tim Tebow. Tim has attained the highest level of success of any football player in history at this point in his career.  He was a homeschooled student who played football for a public high school team in Florida, led Nease High School to the 2005 state championship and played in 2006 as a true freshman on the National Championship Florida Gators team. As the Gators’ starting quarterback in 2007, Tim lead his team to a very successful season.  For his performance and character, Tim, in addition to the Heisman Trophy, also earned the Maxwell Award as the nation’s top football player, the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s best quarterback, and the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation’s most outstanding amateur athlete in any sport.

In North Carolina there are homeschool athletic associations that do give homeschool athletes an outlet for sports. However, for many homeschoolers this is not a viable option due to distance and/or cost. Most private/Christian schools that used to accept homeschool athletes on their teams no longer do so because the leagues have decided that this is “recruiting”.

Your taxes go to pay for public school sports teams, yet in most counties in North Carolina you are denied equal access.

Also, 24 other states support some form of equal access for homeschoolers. It is time for North Carolina to step up and support our hard-working homeschool educators, students, and student-athletes as well.  We are urging the House and Senate Education Committees to bring these bills out of committee so that a full vote can be taken in the legislature.  The passage of this law will not only benefit homeschool athletes , but it will also benefit the entire system of education in North Carolina.

Please join us today in our effort to make the future a better place for all students in North Carolina!