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K-5 Students need PE (2/08)
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Written by Weina Zhao
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Public schools are failing to prepare students for an important test. Starting with the Class of 2012, students will have to pass a state-mandated physical fitness exam in order to graduate high school.
In 2007, however, more than two-thirds of the state’s students failed to meet the required performance goal in at least one fitness test area, according to a report by the California Department of Education.
Because physical fitness is not something that can be achieved overnight, schools need to promote exercise at a young age. Improved physical education programs at elementary schools should accompany the new testing requirements.
Currently, not all elementary schools have regular PE programs. In many schools, students participate in physical activities such as ball games on a volunteer basis only. Such physical activities do not substitute for regular physical education classes that require every child’s participation.
In fall 2007, the district funded 15 new PE teacher positions for elementary schools and five for secondary schools through Proposition H, a voter-approved city initiative that funnels extra funds into often-neglected school programs such as art, peer resources and PE. Three of the new PE teacher positions have already been filled.
When choosing where to place teachers, the district is giving priority to schools that are already funded under the 2005 Physical Education and Nutrition Initiative Project. This is not the right approach. Because the goal is to improve overall student fitness, the district should focus on forming new programs at schools that lack PE before boosting existing ones.
If the district hopes to push students into the desired fitness zone, it should also lengthen the amount of time students spend in PE classes. California law requires a mere 20 minutes of PE a day for elementary school students, not nearly enough to get hearts pacing to the targeted rate. Longer PE classes will prepare students for the fitness exams administered in the fifth, seventh and ninth grades. “I recommend a minimum of 30 minutes a day for first to third graders, and 45 minutes a day for third to fifth graders,” district physical education content specialist Michelle Zapata said.
The state has a good reason to be concerned about students’ fitness levels, as the percentage of obese children in California has been rising steadily the last couple of years and students statewide are failing to meet fitness test standards. The district should implement PE in all district elementary schools and place students on the track for a fit lifestyle.
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