Fighting obesity in a non-core class

Sen. Peter Mills presented what he called his "biennial lecture" to the Legislature's Education Committee, pushing his proposal to lengthen the school day by 10 days and require daily physical education classes. Denise Whitley of the American Heart Association testified in support of the bill as an obesity-fighting measure. "We must address this obesity crisis with the same determination and strength of will" as tobacco opponents exhibited in efforts to reduce smoking rates, she told members of the Legislature's Education Committee. Part of that fight against obesity, she said, involves more physical education in schools."Physical education needs to be considered a core subject," Whitley said. "We must make time during each school day to educate and exercise our children, just for the health of it." As loyal Report Card readers know, the Legislature is getting ready to debate a proposal to reshape the standards students must meet in order to earn a diploma. The recommendations for new requirements would require that students meet standards in the core areas: English, math, science and social studies. Students would choose to meet standards in one other subject area -- either arts, health, world languages or a national industry certification. They would "partially meet" standards in the remaining areas in order to graduate. Fine arts teachers have spoken out against the proposal, saying it's a step backwards in what is required of students in the arts. Students, after all, might not fully meet the arts standard while successfully completing high school. The same would apply to physical education. Is that a step back in the battle against student obesity? The meaning of "partially meets" has yet to be defined. So the one thing we know is that daily physical education is unlikely for the foreseeable future.