What Is HB 4491?
Oklahoma HB 4491, modeled after the Tim Tebow Act, is an equal access law that gives homeschooling students equal access to participate in public school extracurricular activities, sports, band, speech, theater, etc., as their public school peers.
What Are the Effects of HB 4491?
Though the opportunity for homeschoolers to participate in well-funded extracurricular programs through HB 4491 sounds good, the consequences are not worth the benefits. Some of the consequences include:
- Homeschool monitoring
- Public dependence
- Weakened free markets
- Loss of privacy
“The schools must establish standardized ways of comparing academic performance of homeschool students and public-school students. This has a lot of negative downstream consequences.” —”HB-4491 – Homeschoolers in Public School Sports/Activities”
Is This Good for Homeschoolers?
Some homeschoolers support Tim Tebow laws because they want access to public resources and activities within the context of public schools. It allows their children to be included in band, sports, theatre, clubs, and other extracurricular activities.
However, there are other homeschoolers and state organizations like Homeschool Oklahoma, who do not support these measures because of the consequences they will bring on private education.
To learn more about HSOK’s position on this matter and the bill in their state, read their legislative alert blog “HB-4491 – Homeschoolers in Public School Sports/Activities.”
A Better Vision for Homeschoolers
We are not concerned by HB 4491 because we want to keep homeschoolers from having access to great extracurricular activities; quite the opposite. We are concerned because we want the best opportunities for homeschoolers. Legislation modeled after the Tim Tebow Act makes homeschoolers dependent on government programs rather than empowering them to create free and flourishing programs in the private sector that rival the government programs.
States that do not allow homeschoolers to participate in public school extracurricular activities are more likely to have flourishing homeschool programs in athletics, theatre, the arts, etc. It is better to build than to rent. It is better to be independent than dependent.
Join us in our mission to promote this vision to families across the country!
