S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 2523--A

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 26, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Education  --  recommitted
  to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8
  --  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
  and recommitted to said committee

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:

  Section 1. Legislative intent. (i) The legislature  hereby  finds  and
declares that the health and physical activity of its children and youth
are and have been a long-standing health objective of the state. Against
a  background  of  epidemic levels of child obesity, in which at least 1
out of 3 children is now considered overweight or obese, physical educa-
tion has become even more particularly important in the role it plays in
the state's health objectives for its children and youths.
  (ii) According to the  Centers  for  Disease  Control  and  Prevention
(CDC),  the  academic success of America's youth is strongly linked with
their health.   Furthermore, the CDC has  studied  and  documented  that
students  who  engage in sixty minutes or more of physical activity five
or more days per week do better in school. Research also indicates  that
obese  children  and  youth  have  higher  absenteeism and lower reading
proficiency scores than their non-obese peers.
  (iii) Although it may be correlation and not causation, many kids  are
spending  less time exercising and more time in front of the TV, comput-
er, or video-game console. And today's busy  families  have  fewer  free
moments  to  prepare  nutritious,  home-cooked  meals. From fast food to
electronics, quick and easy is the reality for many people  in  the  new
millennium.
  (iv)  Our  schools  are  uniquely  positioned  to  meet children's and
youth's physical activity needs. Physical education can be  the  corner-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD04661-02-6
              

S. 2523--A                          2

stone  of building healthier student bodies, healthier neighborhoods and
higher achievement. This is true in  physical  education's  role  as  an
integral  part  of  a  school's  instruction,  health education classes,
elementary  and  secondary  school  recess, after-school activity clubs,
intramural or interscholastic programs. Taken together, these  sorts  of
activities can raise children's and youth's self-esteem, physical compe-
tence, and open new careers and activities to them.
  (v)  The legislature finds and declares therefore that mandatory phys-
ical education in schools is a key part of protecting the health of  our
children  and youth, the adults into which they will grow, and an impor-
tant tool in preventing the  myriad  diseases  plaguing  New  York  that
derive from child obesity and lack of physical activity.
  S  2. Subdivision 5 of section 803 of the education law, as amended by
chapter 118 of the laws of 1957, is amended to read as follows:
  5. (A) It shall be the duty of the regents to adopt rules  determining
the  subjects  to  be included in courses of physical education provided
for in this section, the period of instruction in each of such  courses,
the  qualifications of teachers, and the attendance upon such courses of
instruction.
  (B) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS SECTION,  THE  REGENTS
SHALL  PROVIDE  IN  ITS  RULES  THAT  THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION INSTRUCTION
REQUIREMENT FOR ALL STUDENTS ENROLLED IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL
GRADES IN CITIES WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE  SHALL,  WHERE
FEASIBLE, INCLUDE MANDATORY DAILY PHYSICAL EDUCATION, INCLUDING STUDENTS
WITH  DISABLING  CONDITIONS AND THOSE IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
THE REGENTS SHALL INCLUDE IN ITS RULES THAT STUDENTS  ENROLLED  IN  SUCH
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS SHALL PARTICIPATE IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION
FOR  A MINIMUM OF ONE HUNDRED FIFTY MINUTES DURING EACH SCHOOL WEEK. THE
REGENTS SHALL PROVIDE FOR A TWO-YEAR PHASE-IN SCHEDULE FOR  DAILY  PHYS-
ICAL EDUCATION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ITS RULES.
  S  3.  This  act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, the
two-year phase-in required by subdivision 5 of section 803 of the educa-
tion law as amended by section two of this act  shall  be  completed  no
later than July 1, 2019.