Senate Bill S6194

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6194
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               April 3, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 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-
 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,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07584-01-3
              

 S. 6194                             2
 
 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.
   §  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. ON
 OR BEFORE JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX, THE REGENTS SHALL PROVIDE
 FOR A TWO-YEAR PHASE-IN SCHEDULE FOR DAILY PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN ELEMEN-
 TARY SCHOOLS IN ITS RULES.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.