Do home-schoolers have as much right as any other kid to take part in a school district's after-school activities? Of course.

Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, has introduced bills to clarify the right of charter, online and home-schooled students to take part in extracurricular activities at public schools, tailoring the language to address criticisms. He would restrict students to extracurricular activities at schools they otherwise would have attended, or schools they attended in the past. Madsen has also crafted a fair funding formula.

The proposal should be passed. The parents of home-schoolers pay taxes to support the schools, even as their kids impose no expense burden whatsoever on classrooms, labs or anywhere else. The programs we're talking about fall outside the regular curriculum -- they're not necessary for graduation. They're extras, as the term extracurricular implies.

It's only fair that these families get something for their tax money.

Backers of ballroom dance, athletics, the performing arts and other extracurricular activities rightfully trumpet the value of such programs, which enrich lives, build character, promote teamwork and keep kids out of trouble. Those attributes are exactly why the programs should be available to everybody.

A legislative committee has held up Madsen's proposal so that its backers can add requirements that home-schoolers' academic progress be monitored by third parties.

Opponents have conjured up a nightmare -- unrealistic, in our view -- that some parents will claim home-school status so that their budding superstars won't be barred from a team on account of poor grades. We suppose this could happen in theory, but it's is no reason to block Maden's proposal. The question should not turn on the rarest of exceptions.

Besides, it's fair to ask: If a kid is not a top performer academically, but a gifted athlete, why should he be prevented from developing that gift which he does possess? This question should be answered one of these days.

Madsen bridles at the suggestion that parents would resort to fraud. "Somehow every parent is suspect, and a closet perjurer ready to abandon their honor so that their kids can participate in extracurricular activities," he said.

It's not even a matter of honor. Utah parents generally want their kids in public school. End of story.

If amendments are needed to Madsen's bills, they should be modest. Lawmakers should not erect major barriers to solve minor theoretical flaws. Athletes are simply not going to leave the hallowed halls of local high schools en masse to be home-schooled.

As for qualifying grades, the Legislature should move equally gently. So long as home-school is recognized as a valid, legal option for education in the State of Utah, it follows that measurement of whether a student is academically qualified to participate in extracurricular activity should flow from the home school, just as it flows from the public school for a public school student.

As a rule, parents who choose home-schooling for their kids are highly motivated; and home-schooled students tend to perform at high levels. Thus, requiring third-party verification of a home-schooled kid's academic standing is pretty much a waste of effort. Worse, it's an intrusion on the prerogatives of home-school educators (the parents) who are operating within the bounds of state law.

The "grade check" strikes us as a political nod to the public education establishment, which thrives on bureaucracy. But paperwork should not be confused with actual outcomes. After all, even graduation from a public high school is no guarantee of intelligence or future success. Home-school actually delivers better odds.

As for costs associated with the inclusion of home-schooled students in extracurricular activities, the main costs are already sunk in stadiums, training equipment, pools, basketball courts and more. Coaches have been hired. A few extra kids trying out for a team or choir will have negligible -- if not zero -- impact on finances. Most extracurricular programs also require the payment of fees for participation.

But let's go back to Tim Tebow. As a high school quarterback, he had 95 passing touchdowns and scored 62 running. Let's imagine the next Tim Tebow is being home-schooled in Utah County right now. Why shouldn't he be allowed to play? There is simply no link between any extracurricular program and the style of academic instruction a kid is getting in other parts of the school day.

And again, home-schoolers are taxpayers. Their tax dollars have purchased the right for their children to participate.