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Chicago
Sun-Times Gov Pushes More P.E. in Schools By
Jim Ritter January
19, 2004 Illinois
is the only state in the nation that requires daily physical education from
kindergarten through high school, but schools routinely obtain waivers to drop
P.E. Last
week, Gov. Blagojevich said he wants to eliminate those waivers.
His proposal could have a big impact in the war on childhood obesity,
while causing major headaches for school districts that have been cutting back
on P.E. for years. Blagojevich
mentioned the proposal in his State of the State address.
But it attracted little notice because it was overshadowed by the
governor's controversial initiative to take over the state's education
bureaucracy. On
Sunday, Blagojevich held a rally at Chicago's Kelly High School to drum up
support for his effort to wrest control from the Illinois State Board of
Education. Afterward, at a news conference, the governor fleshed out his P.E.
proposal. "Children
aren't getting enough physical activity, and we need to encourage them," he
said. In
Illinois, 91 percent of elementary schools, 45 percent of middle Schools and 31
percent of high schools don't offer P.E. five days a week, according to a survey
last year by the Illinois Physical Activity Coalition for Kids.
A recent analysis found the state grants about 99 percent of the P.E.
waivers requested by school districts. Some
districts don't have gyms or say they can't afford P.E. teachers. A Blagojevich
aide said the governor's proposed Education Department would But
with an $8 billion backlog of school construction projects, the governor's
proposal falls far short, said Ronald Gidwitz, a member of "If
you don't have a gym in winter, what can you do?" Gidwitz said. Lack
of gym space isn't the only reason schools cut back on P.E. They also want to
free up more time for academics. In
the Chicago Public Schools, elementary students have P.E. only one to three days
a week, and high school juniors and seniors have no P.E. requirement. Only
freshmen and sophomores take P.E. every day. "As
much as we would like to do more physical education, reading is our |