FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A controversial plan that would cost some high school athletes a year of sports eligibility received a harsh rebuke yesterday from a legislative subcommittee, which declared the idea "deficient" in a 6-0 vote.
The plan, called Proposal 2, would define athletic feeder systems for private schools somewhat similar to those imposed on public schools. Many students who cross those boundaries -- moving from a public middle school to a private high school or vice versa -- would have to sit out of competition for a year.
This is a clear signal from this legislative committee that the current Proposal 2 is not acceptable as a solution to the allegations of recruiting in athletics," said Kevin Noland, interim commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education.
Proposal 2 grew out of public schools' view that private schools can recruit athletes, which is against the rules, under the guise of recruiting students. Proponents also point out that private schools have no attendance boundaries and can offer financial aid to needy students.
However, the idea of unfairly penalizing some students to prevent cheating by a few appeared to be the main irritant for lawmakers.
Yesterday's vote was not, in itself, fatal. The issue goes before a House-Senate education committee next month and now is on Gov. Ernie Fletcher's agenda...
This from the Courier-Journal.
1 comment:
Coming from a private middle school feeding into a public high school, I was not allowed to play sports with the local high school. I always wished to have the equal opportunity as other public middle schools did. I feel as though it would be more beneficial for private students to be able to play with public schools if they wish to. Although recruiting may be an issue for the public high schools, private middle schools will have more options. They should take the students' perspective into consideration.
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