Bill Text: NY A02740 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires instruction in physical education in certain elementary and secondary schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to education [A02740 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A02740-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2740
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 25, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. ORTIZ, GALEF, PAULIN, BENEDETTO, ENGLEBRIGHT,
          COOK -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.  of  A.  GOTTFRIED,  LENTOL,  LIFTON,
          LUPARDO,  MAGNARELLI,  RIVERA, TITUS, WRIGHT -- read once and referred
          to the Committee on Education
        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring  instruction
          in physical education in certain elementary and secondary schools
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Legislative intent. (i) The legislature  hereby  finds  and
     2  declares that the health and physical activity of its children and youth
     3  are and have been a long-standing health objective of the state. Against
     4  a  background  of  epidemic levels of child obesity, in which at least 1
     5  out of 3 children is now considered overweight or obese, physical educa-
     6  tion has become even more particularly important in the role it plays in
     7  the state's health objectives for its children and youths.
     8    (ii) According to the  Centers  for  Disease  Control  and  Prevention
     9  (CDC),  the  academic success of America's youth is strongly linked with
    10  their health.   Furthermore, the CDC has  studied  and  documented  that
    11  students  who  engage in sixty minutes or more of physical activity five
    12  or more days per week do better in school. Research also indicates  that
    13  obese  children  and  youth  have  higher  absenteeism and lower reading
    14  proficiency scores than their non-obese peers.
    15    (iii) Although it may be correlation and not causation, many kids  are
    16  spending  less time exercising and more time in front of the TV, comput-
    17  er, or video-game console. And today's busy  families  have  fewer  free
    18  moments  to  prepare  nutritious,  home-cooked  meals. From fast food to
    19  electronics, quick and easy is the reality for many people  in  the  new
    20  millennium.
    21    (iv)  Our  schools  are  uniquely  positioned  to  meet children's and
    22  youth's physical activity needs. Physical education can be  the  corner-
    23  stone  of building healthier student bodies, healthier neighborhoods and
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07453-01-9
        A. 2740                             2
     1  higher achievement. This is true in  physical  education's  role  as  an
     2  integral  part  of  a  school's  instruction,  health education classes,
     3  elementary and secondary school  recess,  after-school  activity  clubs,
     4  intramural  or  interscholastic programs. Taken together, these sorts of
     5  activities can raise children's and youth's self-esteem, physical compe-
     6  tence, and open new careers and activities to them.
     7    (v) The legislature finds and declares therefore that mandatory  phys-
     8  ical  education in schools is a key part of protecting the health of our
     9  children and youth, the adults into which they will grow, and an  impor-
    10  tant  tool  in  preventing  the  myriad  diseases plaguing New York that
    11  derive from child obesity and lack of physical activity.
    12    § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 803 of the education law, as amended  by
    13  chapter 118 of the laws of 1957, is amended to read as follows:
    14    5.  (a) It shall be the duty of the regents to adopt rules determining
    15  the subjects to be included in courses of  physical  education  provided
    16  for  in this section, the period of instruction in each of such courses,
    17  the qualifications of teachers, and the attendance upon such courses  of
    18  instruction.
    19    (b)  Notwithstanding  any other provision of this section, the regents
    20  shall provide in its  rules  that  the  physical  education  instruction
    21  requirement for all students enrolled in elementary and secondary school
    22  grades  in  cities with a population of one million or more shall, where
    23  feasible, include mandatory daily physical education, including students
    24  with disabling conditions and those in alternative  education  programs.
    25  The  regents  shall  include in its rules that students enrolled in such
    26  elementary and secondary schools shall participate in physical education
    27  for a minimum of one hundred fifty minutes during each school week.  The
    28  regents  shall  provide for a two-year phase-in schedule for daily phys-
    29  ical education in elementary schools in its rules.
    30    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately;  provided,  however,  the
    31  two-year phase-in required by subdivision 5 of section 803 of the educa-
    32  tion  law  as  amended  by section two of this act shall be completed no
    33  later than July 1, 2022.