I am in favor of this bill. Please pass this as it will bring more revenue to the sate of West Virginia and make all children feel included and not outcasts because of schooling choice.

My family and I are in favor of House Bill 4062. It would greatly benefit my family and so many others as homeschool families of athletes. Please vote “YES” to House Bill 4062.

I totally support this bill. My daughter has homeschooled their children for years. She has organized/participated/supported the Ignite Athletics from the beginning. Praying this bill will pass!

I am taking that you vote for this bill.  I am a voter in Cabell County.

My name is Deborah Harpold & I fully support HB 4062, the involvement of WV & our counties allowing homeschooled students to participate in sports with students in public schools here in WV. 1) The homeschool students should not be punished by the state for not allowing them to participate & compete with public schools sports. 2) Everyone I talk to about this subject when I am asked why my grandchildren have to go to Ohio, Kentucky & other states, find out they are not allowed to compete & play within their communities, find it completely ludacris. 3) Homeschooled parents are tax payers as well as public or private schools & reserve the right to have their child participate in sports close to home.                                                4) Parents of homeschoolers can contribute in monetary ways at the public school toward admission and concessions.

5) Homeschool students & fans can be an      example of good sportsmanship since this is a huge quality that is taught. I urge legislators to pass this bill so all  public, private, & homeschooled students are given equal opportunity to play & compete in sports together in the same counties in WV. Thank you

 

This bill needs to be passed and homeschooled students afforded the same opportunities in their sports as public and private schools are given.

As a veteran homeschooler, who experienced the frustration from my children, who "aged out" of playing competitive softball locally, we have experienced the frustration of jumping through hoops in order to be able to fulfill the desires of our children to participate in sports, as well as our desire, as parents, to see them have these important character-shaping opportunities that competition and team athletics offer. I'm grateful for the opportunities our children have had to participate with Ignite Athletics, but even then, our opportunities are limited. We deal daily, in our athletic seasons, with the stress our children feel to get their rigorous school loads completed and planned out in such a way, attempting to accommodate the lengthy travels we have, in order to fit in enough teams to provide a season for their sports. Many may say, well they can just study in the car--that's not easy when you have severe motion sickness. I hate having to pump my kids full of medication, in order to keep them from getting sick. Most often, as a result, we're dealing with feelings of lethargy, which doesn't help them accomplish school work, much less be at their best for competition. In addition to these reasons, being afforded the opportunity to play local public school teams would provide for the opportunity for homeschooled students to be noticed and have more competitive films for college scholarship opportunities! Please support this bill, providing the possibility to even the local playing "fields" --both literally and figuratively.

I’m a homeschool parent and taxpayer in West Virginia. School choice shouldn’t disqualify kids from participating in athletics. HB4062 is a fair approach, and I support this bill.

We homeschool in West Virginia, and this issue matters to our family. I don’t think the way a child is educated should automatically block them from opportunities like sports. HB4062 is about fairness, and I support it.

My family in Cross Lanes (Kanawha) supports this bill.

I think this bill would greatly assist in decreasing overload in our local BOEs. This would allow for a central portal for homeschoolers to send information. This would create a way to file info easier and more efficiently. I think this would also provide for more accurate & timely submissions.

I do not support further development of "school choice". As a public educator, I frequently have students who return from home school and private school who are several grade levels behind in fundamental skills. Additionally, school choice removes valuable funding from public schools, and public schools are able to do more good with each dollar they are given when compared to private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling co-ops.

I cannot support giving any more time or valuable resources to the school choice program.  Public schools all over the state are struggling to provide support staff for those who need it most due to budget issues. PLEASE focus your efforts on improving public education.

This is not the way the income tax system is intended to work. So does this mean that a childless couple should also have their income taxes credited since they don't have children in school? All West Virginians should be subject to the same tax structure to provide necessary government funding, including and especially education.

Homeschool can be beautiful. However, after spending a decade in public ed homeschool is 1) not yielding better results than public school and 2) often used to avoid truancy charges and child protective services.  Adding incentives to keep kids home is only going to sweeten the pot for neglectful parents to “Homeschool.” Once the rose colored glasses come off, it’s clear that more kids belong at school than at home. Perpetually offering money to keep kids home will only deplete services for public schools causing a poorer outcome for them AND the ones at home. Also, WV’s median income is low and our people don’t go to college. Who can afford to stay home? Who has the skills to be teaching upper level math and science to allow that child to compete after school?  Vote no.

Why would we want to give more funds to homeschooling families instead of investing in our public school systems? This and the HOPE school voucher program are, in my opinion, an affront to the families who choose to invest time in their public school communities that the state should be focusing on improving. Not every parent is qualified to be a teacher. Even with the best homeschooling products and programs, students will NOT receive a comparable education at home. You're cheating these students of a proper education and setting them up for failure when they graduate and either move into higher education or the workspace.

Vote NO. This bill was clearly written by someone who is not familiar with homeschooling. There is no indication that there have been quality issues with portfolio reviews. The only reason for this bill would be to make it hard for families to get reviews completed. The county and state BOEs are constantly making mistakes with basic Hope & Homeschooling paperwork and now they are going to train reviewers on portfolio reviews? There is nothing mentioned in this bill about special needs students, who almost always require a portfolio review because standardized testing is not a fair assessment. This also may cause families to need more than one reviewer per child, causing a logistical nightmare.

Vote no on this terrible bill.  It is not good for education.

Please do not have every county have different rules. My daughter in law is teacher and her pay is essential for their family.

HB4950 is again overreach by the legislature to modify the structure of the WV Educational Code, the money for this is coming from taxpayers and the levies they vote for, these programs, test pilot or not should be discussed and put out for public review before instituting them. This bill should not be up for a vote until that happens and you have public support. Kill the bill until the public has been informed and have voted on it!