Elizabeth Dowell helps son Matthew with his homework as son Jonathan stays focused on his work. Gracie, 10 months, finds her own entertainment in her brothers’ quiet home-school time. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[01/24/01] Home-school and non-public school students may be able to reap the benefits of public school programs, including books and extracurricular activities, under a bill proposed by Rep. John Reeves, R-Jackson.

The bill would give public school districts the authority to lend educational materials, such as textbooks not being used by the district, to those students. It also would give home-school students the opportunity to participate in the system’s extracurricular activities.

“The very least that these taxpayers should get is the right to use the extracurricular activities of the school system,” Reeves said. “I see everything right with it.”

Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent Donald Oakes disagreed. “I have some real problems with it,” he said. “If you’re going to participate in extracurricular activities, you should be involved at that school.”

Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, said because the bill is “very broad” and addresses a lot of legal issues, he does not expect it to pass the House.

“These types of bills have been introduced before, and it never gets anywhere. It affects so many other areas of law that it is really hard to pass this,” Chaney said.

The bill also calls for parents or guardians of home-school students and non-public school students to receive a school property tax refund. In other words, parents who don’t use the public school system would be entitled to the tax money they pay into the local school system.

Reeves said many parents choose to teach their children at home school or use a private school “because they want their children to get a good education in a moral, safe environment with religious principles as the foundation.

“The idea of home schooling is becoming more widely practiced and certainly more widely accepted,” he said.

Elizabeth Dowell of Port Gibson home schools three of her four children and is a support group leader of Vicksburg Christian Home Educators.

“Home-schooling was a good family option for us,” she said. “We live out in the country.”

Dowell said about 40 families make up the group of students in grades K-12. The organization was started in 1987 by two Vicksburg families and is a “support system to encourage parents on their home-school journey,” she said.

“Overall, Mississippi home-schoolers have been very satisfied with Mississippi’s laws,” she said.

However, she said there are some families who would benefit from using public school materials and participating in extracurricular activities. Dowell added that home-school families must purchase books and other supplies, and a tax credit would be a better idea than a tax refund.

Chaney said he and other legislators also prefer the tax credit over the refund.

The public-private funding question is not unique to Mississippi.

President Bush, unveiling his education plan Tuesday, said he favors some sort of assistance for private schools forced to form when public schools fail. He stopped short, however, of calling for vouchers for parents of private-school students.

Oakes disagreed with the refund.

“The overall support of public education is a burden that everyone should bear,” Oakes said. “What about those people out there who have no kids at all?”

Alan Powers, principal at Vicksburg Catholic School, which includes St. Aloysius High School and St. Francis Xavier Elementary, had a different opinion. “Any time that our parents have a chance for assistance from the government, it’s a good thing,” he said. “I’d love tax refunds.”