Steve Gall has spent years advocating for daily exercise for school kids, which numerous studies indicate increases classroom attention and achievement at the same time it promotes better health. Ironically, the increased stress caused by the need to get high standardized test scores has meant less time for children to exercise their bodies as well as their minds at school.
Gall is a retired teacher with a doctorate in physical education. He volunteers in Tucson schools and has spent years advocating locally and state-wide for daily exercise. He’s worked with Republicans in the legislature, including Frank Antenori and John Huppenthal, getting them to sponsor legislation, but the bills didn’t get far.
Gall’s attempt this session looked like it might make it. Working with Republican Rep. Paul Boyer, he helped put together HB2539, which would create a task force to “examine, evaluate and make recommendations concerning the best practices for educating and encouraging physical activity in Arizona schools.” It passed the House on a 40-15 vote, but it was held in the Senate Education Committee by Republican Chairperson Kimberly Yee, which effectively killed it.
Gall expressed disappointment and frustration over his attempts to work with the majority Republicans to craft legislation that would get the needed votes in both houses. “The common denominator here is the Republicans who have blocked this initiative time and time again,” Gall said. “Their excuse is they don’t want the state to tell the districts what to do. However they do tell the schools what to teach.”
Gall says he’s working to elect Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate David Garcia, who Gall says fully supports an initiative for daily physical activity.
UPDATE: I was contacted by a member of the Senate majority staff who deals with the media. He was asked by Sen. Kimberly Yee to respond to my statement in this post that Yee killed HB2539 by holding it in the Senate Education Committee. According to Yee, she was asked to strike the bill by its sponsor, Rep. Paul Boyer. I haven’t reached out to Boyer for a response.
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2014.
Steve Gall is really an education advocate and hero for working as hard as he does for our schools and for our kids. This seems like such a no-brainer—-and if ever there were an argument against abusive testing, this is it–that, in the midst of an epidemic of childhood obesity we’ve got more time to teach to the test than for kids to exercise their bodies. The very idea that we NEED legislation on the issue shows the gravity of the problem in our schools. And the gravity of the problem in our ledge? Just look at the legislation that they ARE passing and that will give you a clue!
Cynically, this bill will not get support because: (1) Michelle Obama says kids need physical activity; (2) currently, no member of the legislative majority owns a business which would profit from increased school physical activity; (3) to say children need more physical activity to combat childhood obesity would imply parental malpractice rather than educator malpractice, and that is contrary to their views on educators.
Who voted for this Kimberly Yee character? Last week she put the kibosh on a fully supported study for medical marijuana use for veterans with PTSD; this week I’m reading that she’s blocking kids from getting the exercise they so desperately need. School is supposed to prepare kids for the future and instill good habits in them that will serve them later in life. It is very hard to convert a nonexerciser to an exerciser unless you start young!
Kudos to Steve for asking legislators to care more about kids than themselves or politics. I work on this same issue nationally and believe we need to by pass the bureaucrats and get parents to demand an hour a day for their kids. Children who exercise 1 hour a day which:
• Can improve their academic scores up to 40%
• Disciplinary issues are reduced in the classroom and at home
• Experience less stress, depression, suicide and they sleep better
• Have higher self esteem, are less susceptible to bullying and are less likely to bully
• Healthier children make better food choices
• They will become healthier and more productive members of our society, which will reduce our nation’s health care expense and help the U.S. in a competitive world.
These are all scientifically proven results and can be achieved with virtually no expense to taxpayers. Children can exercise in the classroom-the teacher is already there (no need for new hires) no equipment is needed; existing PE teachers can implement and monitor the program. Teachers who have included 1 hour of exercise in their classrooms report they see the above mentioned results, they accomplish more in the 5 hours of instruction then they ever did in 6 hours without exercise.
Why don’t we do this in every classroom if it’s so productive? 80% of Americans do not exercise to a degree that is of any value to them-teachers included. Teachers who don’t exercise are not likely to promote or include exercise in their classroom even if it is good for the students. What can we do?
Empower the consumers of education, parents, with the information and give them direction and permission to demand change. In America, consumers are the ultimate driver of products and services and we can make this be the case in education too. Stop blaming parents, while it should be their responsibility, parents who don’t exercise are not going to champion exercise in their households. The health of the next generation is societies issue and it’s in the best interest of America to stop pointing fingers. We can educate parents of the benefits mentioned above, and inform them they can demand their children get an hour of daily exercise, recommended by the NIH, in their child’s classroom. When enough parents demand 1 hour of exercise be added to their child’s education – it will happen.
This issue needs the media to be the leader or instrumental in a fundamental shift in the public’s perception of exercise for kids. All that is needed is for influencers to use send out the message within their sphere of influence to educate the consumer.