SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1515        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 216

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Thomas M. McGee

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to improve quality physical education..

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1515        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 216

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 248 OF 2009-2010.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act to improve quality physical education..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 3, as so appearing, and inserting in place t hereof the following section:-

Physical education shall be taught as a required subject in all grades for all students in the public schools, by licensed teachers, certified in physical education. The purpose of physical education shall be to increase the physical competence, health-related fitness and enjoyment of physical activity so as to benefit children physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. In addition, there shall be no substitution or waivers of instruction or activities for Physical Education; and physical education coursework standards shall be based on the National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE) national standards for Physical Education including program and student assessment.  

SECTION 2. The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, in conjunction with the Commissioner of Public Health, shall conduct an evaluation of current physical education standards, practices and the instruction provided to students in grades kindergarten through twelve and report their findings for each individual school. The report shall include, but not be limited to, (a) the current school physical education offerings with specifics in regards to the duration of each individual session and the number of days per week that the class meets per year and (b) report on how each individual school is providing a curriculum based quality physical education to achieve physical fitness, (c) the amount of recess student participate in each week, including the time and space allotted to recess in each school.

The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education shall convey the findings for each individual school and report it to the to the Governor of the Commonwealth, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, Chairpersons of the Joint Education Committee, and Chairpersons of the Joint Public Health Committee. The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education shall make appropriate recommendations based on the findings in conjunction with the Commission on School Nutrition and Childhood Obesity established under Chapter 197 of the Acts of 2010.

SECTION 3. Within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education a designated full time equivalent staff person shall be determined to serve as a physical education coordinator for the state. This such person shall, but not be limited to, gathering information on best practices of quality physical education and physical activity programs throughout the Commonwealth, developing and providing a comprehensive framework and technical assistance to schools in implementing quality physical education programs, identifying resources to implement quality physical education programs and evaluating effectiveness of physical education programs