House Resolution 16 - Introduced

PAG LIN





  1  1                HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2                       BY  MASCHER
  1  3 A Resolution requesting the establishment of a
  1  4    legislative interim study committee to review the
  1  5    physical education requirements for students under
  1  6    the state's educational standards.
  1  7    WHEREAS, research indicates that students with
  1  8 higher levels of physical fitness show greater
  1  9 academic achievement than those who are less
  1 10 physically active; and
  1 11    WHEREAS, obesity has more than doubled in adults in
  1 12 the past 20 years and tripled among children, and a
  1 13 study published in the Journal of the American Medical
  1 14 Association connects the rise of childhood obesity
  1 15 with an increase in high blood pressure among
  1 16 America's children and adolescents; and
  1 17    WHEREAS, the recommendations of researchers to halt
  1 18 this trend toward obesity include increased physical
  1 19 activity, daily physical education, and the overcoming
  1 20 of obstacles to walking to school; and
  1 21    WHEREAS, today's less physically active lifestyles
  1 22 and poor nutrition give physical education a primary
  1 23 role in improving a student's present and future
  1 24 health; and
  1 25    WHEREAS, Iowa's physical education requirements
  1 26 under the educational standards have been
  1 27 fundamentally unchanged, except to provide for more
  1 28 exemptions, for more than a quarter of a century; NOW
  1 29 THEREFORE,
  1 30    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
  2  1 That the Legislative Council is requested to establish
  2  2 an interim study committee, which shall be assisted by
  2  3 the Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa
  2  4 Department of Public Health with information and
  2  5 support, to review Iowa's physical education standards
  2  6 and requirements, practitioner preparation programs
  2  7 for physical education instructors, and the licensure
  2  8 standards for physical education practitioners; to
  2  9 consider the benefits and disadvantages of
  2 10 establishing a statewide physical education
  2 11 curriculum; to investigate current literature and
  2 12 recommendations for best practices in physical
  2 13 education instruction; and to submit its findings and
  2 14 recommendations in a report to the General Assembly.
  2 15 LSB 2275YH 81
  2 16 kh:rj/gg/14