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History
- Referred to education
Companion bill
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Requires the commissioner of education to survey, examine and report about school district compliance with physical education instruction requirements in elementary and secondary grades in public schools
In Assembly Committee · Ways And Means · Sponsor Catherine Nolan
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7715
Title of bill
An act relating to requiring the commissioner of education to survey, examine and report about school district compliance with physical education instruction requirements in elementary and secondary grades in public schools
Purpose
The goal of this bill is to ensure that school districts comply with physical instruction requirements in elementary and secondary grades by requiring the commissioner of education to survey, examine, and report about such compliance.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: This section requires the commissioner of education to submit a report to the governor and legislature regarding schools that do not have facilities available for physical education use, schools that do not have teachers employed or designated to teach physical education, schools that do not provide legally required class time for physical education, and schools that are not in compliance with physical education requirements, along with analysis and explanation of this information and identification of the amps that the education department is taking to ensure compliance with physical education requirements in elementary and secondary grades.
Section 2: This lists the effective date.
Justification
This bill follows a public hearing that was held in 2003 by the Assembly Standing Committee on Education regarding compliance with required physical education classes. At the hearing, teachers, principals, and education advocates-testified about instances in which schools were not meeting physical education requirements. In addition, a survey sponsored by NYSUT found that teachers did not believe school districts to be complying with requirements, and a 2011 audit by the NYC comptroller found that no city elementary schools were in compliance with state physical education requirements. SED too did an audit of a limited number of school districts in 2008 and found that districts generally were not complying with regulations.
Schools' compliance with state regulations is essential to the health and well being of New York's children. A lack of physical activity is engendering higher obesity rates for children, manifesting itself in higher rates of diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, and other pulmonary diseases. All of these indicators demonstrate the declining health of our young. Many studies show that unhealthy lifestyles in youth lead to much poorer health outcomes in adulthood. Regulations regarding physical education serve to ensure that students receive the amount of physical activity and learning needed to maintain their health.
By requiring the commissioner of education to report to the legislature and the governor regarding compliance with physical education requirements, and outlining the steps that SED is taking to increase compliance, we can ensure that schools are giving elementary and secondary students the physical education that they need to stay healthy.
Legislative history
2014 - A.8592
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.