Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
For decades we enjoyed sports because they were devoid of politics. As head coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington said in Remember the Titans, ”This is my sanctuary right here. All this hatred and turmoil swirling around us, but this… this is always right. Struggle. Survival. Victory and defeat. It’s just a game, Doc, but… I love it.”
I know the feeling. It’s one of the things I relished about coaching. Just me and my guys, taking on the best the other team can offer, often on a hostile field or gym, a long way from home. It made playing and later coaching memorable.
I’m not alone, I’m sure every viable coach felt or still feels the same way.
The politicians can demand this or demand that, impede the education of our children, throw roadblocks and non-stop insults at the teaching profession, but thankfully, they haven’t reached the sanctuary of high school athletics.
You get a few snowplow parents who roll over weak administrators and try to influence the playing time of little Johnny or little Nancy, but hardnosed, strong-willed, thick-skinned coaches endure the ridiculous pressure they try to exert. At least for a while, until they reach the board level and they’re terminated.
My late friend Harold Bailey had a saying that described the process perfectly, “You’re hired as a teacher, but fired as a coach.”
Another late friend, Chuck Wells, had a saying he picked up while coaching football in Texas and California before he came back to Wyoming.
“Do you know what they call an administrator in Texas?” Chuck would ask with a straight face, “Three losing seasons and a master’s degree.”
The world of coaching is about to change if the latest Freedom Caucus idiocy passes the House and then moves to the Wyoming Senate.
With 23 co-sponsors in the House and 10 in the Senate, it has a great chance of moving to Governor Gordon’s desk. I don’t know if Mark will veto it or not, but a fair and impartial Supreme Court would surely rule it unconstitutional even if he does. Impartial Supreme Courts that adjudicate by the letter of the law have gone the way of the dodo bird and the passenger pigeon. They are extinct.
House Bill 199’s summary reads as follows:
AN ACT relating to education; modifying the education savings accounts program; changing the name of the program to the Wyoming freedom scholarship act; creating the Wyoming freedom scholarship program account; modifying distribution of state funds; modifying definitions; increasing the maximum scholarship award; modifying eligibility requirements; eliminating certification of education service providers; creating a voluntary registration for education service providers; repealing provisions; providing appropriations; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.
If you’re not an attorney, I’ll summarize the nuts and bolts of this act for you. It provides $7000 to anyone wishing to home-school or to enroll their child in a parochial, private or charter school. The money comes from a fund previously allotted only for local school districts.
If it passes, the world of K-12 education, including athletics, is going to change dramatically.
I’m an advocate for parochial, private and charter schools. Our two children were K-8 students at Trinity Lutheran in Riverton.
They received a quality education that has carried them far. Once Staci and Brian hit high school, the academics were easy compared to the rigor they had at Trinity. It wasn’t a choice that everyone followed, and I’d never force someone to do it. We paid their tuition for the entire nine years they each attended and I never thought the public school system should pay for their parochial education. Our granddaughters now attend parochial school and I still feel the same way.
Public education is the foundation of the United States. If you want your child in a different setting, you should pay for that. It is not the state’s responsibility.
House Bill 199 changes that, it takes state funds and not only pays for organized, documented curriculum at a parochial, private or charter school, but for home-schooling as well.
Home-schooling is going to open a huge can of worms, extending to the field, the gym, the mat, the pool, and the track.
House Bill 199 removes any requirement for a home-school parent with the local school district. At present, they must present a curriculum, no matter how brief, to the local school district for approval. It’s largely a rubber stamp, but it protects children from educational neglect if it is reported.
You don’t have to use much imagination to know what’s about to happen if the Freedom Caucus has its way and puts yet another chip in the armor of American education.
Less than scrupulous parents are going to grab the $7000 for each child, put them in front of the TV or cell phone and spend the money on anything they want. There are no controls with this bill, just a handout for seven grand to anyone with a child under 19 years of age.
It’s going to be a mess.
At the same time, these parents will want to include their children in activities and athletics. After all, it gets them out of the house for a few hours a day.
While the K-12 public school students and the serious parochial and private school kids follow the academic guidelines which vary from district to district, but almost always make a student ineligible for athletics if they get a single F in a subject, the home school kids just waltz into practice, devoid of any checks or balances.
It’s a nightmare waiting to happen, but it’s a carefully orchestrated nightmare intent on the destruction of another generation academically in the guise of a government handout by right-wing extremists.
This is likely to pass.
Not every district allows home-school kids to compete, but most do and it’s just a matter of time until some irate parent files a lawsuit and every kid, no matter their academic preparation, gets a shot at the varsity.
It hasn’t arrived yet, but you can count on it as much as you can count on the Freedom Caucus to continue their assault on education.