Del. Bobby Orrock, R-Caroline, said he’s gotten some nasty emails and calls since voting this week against the “Tebow” bill that would let homeschooled students participate in public high school team events.

Orrock — who teaches at Spotsylvania High School — said he’s been accused of being in the pocket of public education. The backlash prompted him to take the unusual step of making a House floor speech Friday to defend himself.

“I have dedicated my life to public education,” Orrock said. “I have never worked against home schooling, private schooling. I will defend the right of any parent in this Commonwealth to choose that option for their child…. However, our public school system and its myriad of programs is not an a la carte menu that individuals, once they have chosen not to be a part of the public structured education system, can then pick and choose the pieces of it that they want.”

School extracurricular programs, Orrock said, are “an extension of the entire school learning environment.”

He said he would defend homeschoolers’ right to homeschool, but hopes people “will look at the totality of how we act in this body, and not just one particular vote.”