In 1984, the Texas legislature passed the “No-Pass, No-Play” bill that sent a message to high school athletes, band members, and all extracurricular participants; if you don’t make passing grades, you will not be participating in sports/activities. As a parent of a high school athlete, I applaud this act and the message it sends to our kids that grades come first.
Of course, over the past 23 years, loop-holes have developed. On Sunday, the Dallas Morning News had a very interesting story about how schools are finding the exceptions to No-Pass, No-Play:
UIL records show students in many other districts could easily craft a schedule in which nearly all of their classes are exempt from no-pass, no-play.
The state lets districts exempt Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual-college enrollment and other top-level classes.
On top of that, school boards are allowed to add courses to their no-pass, no-play exemption lists as long as they label them as somehow “advanced” or “honors.”
The districts must submit their exemption lists to UIL, but no one reviews the lists and districts don’t need to update them every year. Districts can also ban exemptions.
“There is kind of a broad range of allowance there,” said Bill Farney, executive director of UIL. “We don’t have a master list of courses they can and cannot exempt. Trying to make one rule fit everybody ends up with some discrepancy and some difference in interpretation or application.”
Once again, we’ve taken a simple concept and destroyed it with exceptions. Out one side of our mouths we are saying, “everyone must get good grades” while the other side says, “except for you.”
I understand the other side of this argument. I know there are kids who are only in school for athletics and they may be “lost to the streets” if they cannot play. I also understand the roll of tradition and sports in the psyche of many Texans. I think we need to realize what effect this has on the kids. Making exceptions like this says to kids, there is always an exception, you just have to find it.
In schools where No-Pass, No-Play is working, you have coaches/sponsors actively checking grades, creating study periods, developing mentoring programs, communicating with parents, and doing whatever they can to keep the kids engaged. I’ve seen schools celebrate the student athlete as the student first and the results of that emphasis is a well-balanced kid.
How can we feel any outrage at professional athletes behaving as if the rules don’t apply to them when we teach them that from the beginning? Do you really think Terrell Owens had to pass all of his classes?
More misunderestimation
