Chris Graham: Why did Senate Democrats kill the Tebow Bill?

Senate Democrats are crowing about how they killed the so-called Tebow Bill, which would allow home-schooled students to participate in athletics on public-sports teams.

Congratulations for your hard work to deny opportunities to innocent teenagers.

“It is not fair that a home-schooled student would not have to meet all of the same eligibility requirements to play sports that a public school student has to meet,” said Sen. John Miller (D-Newport News).

The bill, HB 63, patroned by Del. Robert Bell (R-Albemarle), would prohibit public schools from participating in interscholastic programs that do not allow home-schooled students who meet certain criteria to participate.

It’s called the Tebow Bill after Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow, who was home-schooled as a youth but was able to play sports at his local public high school on his way to a national championship at Florida and a career in the NFL.

The glee over killing the Virginia Tebow Bill from Democrats comes across as needlessly partisan. It’s obvious that the home-school community skews not only Republican, but Tea Party in partisan identification. Which is fine if all you’re doing is knee-capping the other side on a key political issue, but the problem with this one is, again, the kids.

“There are nearly two dozen privately run organizations across the Commonwealth that give home-schoolers the opportunity to play high school level sports in addition to rec, club and traveling teams,” Miller said by way of offering a weak justification.

The more insulting comment came from Senate Democratic Leader Dick Saslaw, rebutting arguments made by Tebow Bill supporters that home-school families pay taxes like everybody else and thus should be able to access public schools for athletics purposes like everyone else.

“It‘s true that home school families pay taxes that fund our public schools, but that doesn’t mean they’re automatically entitled to use those schools. Your tax dollars pay for a B-1 bomber or fire trucks, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to hop in and ride it,” the politically tone-deaf Saslaw said.

Fox News doesn’t need to call Democrats egghead liberals when you have Democratic leaders making comments like these.