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Crist Signs New Tougher Physical Education Standards

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The Associated Press

Published: June 3, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a bill requiring Florida elementary schools provide 30 minutes of continuous exercise daily for their students.

The bill Crist signed into law Monday would also require that middle schools offer a daily physical education class to students in the sixth through eighth grades beginning in fall 2009.

The "Don Davis Physical Education Act" is named after the Jacksonville state representative who died earlier this year from brain cancer.

Lawmakers passed a bill last year that required elementary schools to have 150 minutes of P.E. weekly. But lawmakers learned many schools didn't fully comply with new standards and toughened up the requirements.

Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, who sponsored the new legislation (SB 0610), said some schools were counting students' walk to lunch, watching a film on nutrition or stretching for a few minutes while standing by their desks, as exercise.

Teachers have argued it's difficult to cram one more thing into the already hectic school day. And more than half of nearly 3,000 teachers surveyed statewide last fall said the new requirements required some curriculum changes like cutting time for music and fine arts programs.

So lawmakers tweaked the latest bill, requiring at least 30 minutes of continuous exercise daily. The bill also extends a P.E. requirement to middle schools.

Crist has long championed the issue and says he wants to see the requirement expanded through 12th grade.

He helped established a state council on physical fitness, and he and lawmakers believe mandatory exercise and education can help head off childhood obesity and related health problems.

A state task force, created by former Gov. Jeb Bush, reported in 2003 that millions of school children were headed for juvenile diabetes and other ailments because of poor exercise and nutrition habits.

Constantine and other lawmakers say they hope to correct the sedentary habits of today's youth, believing the additional activity will make them smarter as well. He says teachers benefit, too, from having kids run off some steam during the school day.

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