Recess and physical education are essential to children's development
October 24, 2007: Left to Right: Rachel Resnick, CPS Chief of Labor Relations, Parent Amy Lux, and Calvin Davis, Director Sports Administration and Facilities Management, after Ms. Lux presented her materials on recess and physical education to the Board of Education. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.
Advocate continues to speak out at October 24 Chicago Board of education meeting…
On October 24 I made the following presentation to the Chicago Board of Education.
“Physical activity and play have a vital role in the development of an emotionally balanced child,” I said. “Chicago public schools are not providing children daily physical education, as required by the Illinois School Code. Most elementary schools only provide one period of physical education (P.E.) per week. My principal was asked what was keeping our school from meeting the P.E. requirement. She said that without funding for an extra P.E. instructor and more space, our school could not provide it. I am sure other schools have the same concerns.
“All children in the state of Illinois have a legal right to daily P.E. A bill signed by the governor in 2005 states that each child shall receive daily physical education in a developmentally planned curriculum that provides an appropriate amount of physical activity. The Illinois State Board of Education instructional program basic standards provide that the time schedule for daily P.E. shall compare favorably with other courses in the curriculum. As such, it should appear on the formal daily schedule for each child.
“School personnel will tell you that teachers are instructed to give daily P.E. in class. A friend who taught first grade in Englewood did stretches and had the students walk the stairs because she was not allowed to take them outside. This does not constitute daily physical education as defined by the school code.
“Other courses which have a formal place on the schedule can have their requirements met in mainstream classes. As such, a formal teacher would not be needed. My school does not have a library, yet we have a librarian who spends one period per week with the kindergarten through 4th grades, having students fill out worksheets. Technology class for these grades could also be met as part of other academic coursework, or as part of library, as computers are the primary reference tools that libraries were once used for.
“As far as extra space that is needed, we have an auditorium with removable seats. And our largest classroom, which was once the library, is now used for French, another non-mandated subject. These spaces could be used for formal physical education instruction which do not require high ceilings.
“What this boils down to is that physical education is not respected as a subject in the curriculum.
“Southwest Chicago’s state representative, Kevin Joyce, was successful in passing legislation this summer which is phasing out districts ability to have waivers for physical education. It is interesting, however, that the board of education has never applied for an elementary school P.E. waiver. I have been told by various state agency department heads that CPS does not feel the need to follow the same laws as the rest of Illinois.
“Maybe you can tell me how it is that CPS is above providing daily physical education as required by law,” I concluded.
Once again, they were speechless. I added, “No one pays me to be nice.”
Rachel Resnick, Chief Labor Relations Officer then spoke, crediting me for a survey response last spring of 43 percent of our schools which are providing regularly scheduled recess.
Then board officials told me that I could meet with some board administrators at another time to discuss the issue.
I had my meeting at the Board on October 31. Here were the people in attendance: Flavia Hernandez, Office of Elementary Areas and Schools and Office of School Coordination (works as a liaison between the curriculum office and the area instructional offices), Calvin Davis, Director, Sports Administration & Facilities Management, and Rachel Resnick, Chief Labor Relations Officer. Rachel Resnick seems to be calling the shots, was keeping minutes.
They said that we will meet again in about three weeks and would add someone from the law department.
There were a lot of things to discuss. They had mentioned that someone had contacted the law department about compliance with state standards. Most likely the compliance office at the state board of education, I had talked to a consultant there on Monday, she had said she was going to make some calls.
I was commended for my advocacy at the board. I have probably spoken seven times since April 2005. They have considered ways to put recess onto the schedule, and are going to be working on recommendations for each type of school. There are two main school day lengths, and the previous argument was that the shorter school day, 5 hours and 45 minutes, couldn’t accommodate. But they are going to recommend that schools fit it in. The state board of education only requires five hours of instruction. That leaves 45 minutes for lunch and breaks. Physical education is considered instructional time.
We talked about state standards for P.E. and translations of the vague daily time period requirement “which compares favorably to other subjects.” My message was that we can’t get caught up in the letter of the law, but make motions to do the best Chicago can, given the law as it currently states. That would be to use recess, and at least one formal period of PE. There are 30 openings at CPS for P.E. instructors. There is a shortage, since a local university stopped offering the degree. I mentioned that if there was a formal standardized lesson plan at least a substitute teacher could stand in. They have looked into recess training programs, and will be looking into getting those in place, and developing a formal P.E. curriculum. The law department is going to see if they need to apply for a waiver.
I told them that this year is open season for lawsuits, because they were not in compliance, and were not on a waiver and that maybe down the road we can work on getting two formal periods of PE per week, but all understood that with many schools gym/student capacity, unless they did some sort of ‘non’ gym PE, such as yoga or martial arts it would not be possible.
We talked about the states’ requirements for recess to be considered P.E. I mentioned North Carolina, which is requiring all teachers to learn a recess P.E. program (in case there is no P.E. teacher) and which is re-stating the rules for classic recess games, although this is probably not desirable. I said that unless someone is offering recess training for a “planned and structured curriculum” (rather than just an “organized activity”) that focuses on the Illinois Learning Standards for Physical Development (see Standards 19, 20 & 21)”, CPS is going to have to take whatever recess training there is available and put it to best use. I have a feeling that they have been talking to my friends at the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play, who have connections to many recess training consulting and equipment providers. The best thing about having multiple structured game areas offered during recess is that kids aren’t tempted to just go helter skelter, and special needs kids will be able to find a place, have choices.
We also talked about standards for elementary school coaches. The sports and recreation department offers training for coaches. I had never knew this department even existed. My children’s coaches were not ever required to take any training that this department offered. Sometimes coaches did not honor the equal playing time rule. I gave Calvin Davis, Director, Sports Administration & Facilities Management, a training program by Bob Bigelow (former NBA player), for youth sports, based on a “recess model.” It lets the kids play and puts the fun back into sports before adults ruin it for them. (Most kids don’t make the high school team, and don’t care to after four years of trauma before turning 13). With this model, any adult who understands the fundamentals of the game can coach.
I have also had several conversations with parents across the country on recess. Many school boards are mandating X number of minutes for recess, but select principals and teachers are ignoring it. Michigan has a law requiring recess, but many teachers are not providing it. If we are going to allow teachers their belief that it is their god given right to withhold recess from children, we might as well save any further discussion and let it be as it is.
If we seriously want our kids to have a return to their due fair share of play, and do not want to be boggled by screaming parents and legalities, it may be a good idea to consider defining the damages, and stating it into any legislation or school board mandates considered. If $X was deducted from a teacher or principals salary for an infraction as part of any agreement, it would save a lot of distress on everyone. Even a small monetary amount would be effective, say $20, because it would also appear on their formal record, after, say three offenses, further action could be made as determined necessary.
