'We should have access': Bill to allow home-school students to participate in UIL sports on Abbott's desk

Texas home-schooled students are currently prohibited from taking part in University Interscholastic League (UI) extracurricular activities, but a bill that seeks to even the playing field has been sent to Gov. Greg Abbott.

Dubbed the UIL Equal Access Bill, HB 547 was introduced by Texas State Rep. James Frank (R-Wichita Falls) and would allow home-schooled students to participate in UIL extracurricular activities through their local public school.

John Ash, a Bell County home-schooler of three and former public school teacher, told Education Daily Wire why he supports the bill and what it could mean to home-school students.

"I mean it's only fair. We pay [taxes]. We should have access," Ash told Education Daily Wire. "I know that it's going to help. Particularly kids in the smaller schools in smaller rural areas where they don't have access. You know there's not enough of home-schoolers in a small community to put together a team typically."

Although home-school families pay taxes to support UIL programs and public school facilities, some critics say that UIL participation should be limited only to those attending public schools.

Since home-schooled children are not allowed to participate in UIL activities, Ash and a group of other home-school teachers and parents had to pay out of their own pockets to provide sports activities for their students.

"We put together football, volleyball, baseball track and basketball at various times," Ash told Education Daily Wire. "It just kind of comes and goes with people you need, but we've had all of those sports that we provided. We would play buying all our own stuff, scheduling everything, coaching everything for free. It's funny when you're playing against a guy and he's making $70,000 a year or something coaching his team and you're volunteering your time."

Ash said that a small group of home-school teachers don't support the bill because they're afraid that the bill might subject them to some restrictions by the public school system.

"I know they're fearful that somehow they're going to bring (this) under some kind of restrictions or demands and you know that kind of takes away your freedom as a home-schooler to some degree if you do submit to going into public school," Ash told Education Daily Wire. "But you know, they could do that anyway. They can do that without our participation in this. That could happen at any time, but Texas has been great about giving us a lot of freedom."

The number of Texas parents that chose home schooling for their children has been on the rise. A Texas Education Agency (TEA) study showed that between 1997 and 2019, the number of Texas students who withdrew from public schools to be home-schooled increased by 228%, Education Daily Wire previously reported. The COVID-19 pandemic boosted that number significantly and the percentage of Texas school-aged children being home schooled almost tripled in 2020, from 4.5% in the spring, to 12.3% by fall 2020 according to a U.S. Census Bureau report.

HB 547 has bipartisan support and passed out of the House Public Education committee on April 23, 2021. The bill was initially heard on the House floor May 5, but was recommitted to committee following a technical point of order from Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian). It was sent to the governor's desk on May 31.