Editorial: Keep P.E. mandatory in state's schools

Downers Grove Republican state Rep. Ron Sandack wants physical education to be an option rather than a requirement for public schools in Illinois. While we normally would agree with easing state mandates on our schools, this is one that has benefits for students during and well beyond school and should remain in force.

Ironically, Sandack's district is located in DuPage County, which has been a leader in dealing with issues related to childhood obesity and with developing a new way for schools to get students interested in physical activity.

Naperville Unit District 203's physical education program earned nationwide attention and led to the creation of a national group that saw the benefits of teaching students how to be and remain physically active during their lifetime. Aimed at the student who might not be an athlete and for whom activity may mean only playing video games, it moved away from just team sports to a focus on setting individual fitness goals.

That new way of teaching P.E. has been adopted by school districts throughout the state and should be encouraged as a benefit for students.

"In my building, students run to my room. It's the best 25 minutes twice a week that they're going to get," said Jason Cowan, who teaches P.E. to elementary students in the West Aurora school district. "It's our job to keep them excited to be a lifelong person of activity."

And that attitude is how the DuPage County Health Department's Forward program aims to reduce obesity in DuPage, especially childhood obesity.

The county has been collecting body mass index (BMI) data since the fall of 2010 and has more than 90 percent of public schools and 15 percent of private schools participating. According to the Forward website, 29.6 percent of the 31,060 kindergarten, sixth-grade and ninth-grade students recorded in 2013-14 school year were considered overweight or obese and 14.2 percent were obese. Those rates held steady from the previous year and decreased 1 percent in the 2012-13 school year.

Sandack said high obesity rates prove that a P.E. requirement is not helping and therefore not needed.

We disagree. As the DuPage County Health Department states on its Forward website, comprehensive approaches (which include support for physical education in the schools) are "associated with modest declines in obesity rates."

There are many issues facing our schools in Illinois and many mandates that could be lifted to help stretch education dollars and put more resources into academics.

But encouraging schools to drop P.E. is not one of those mandates. The General Assembly should vote no on this legislation and instead look to encourage more physical activity for our children so Illinois' obesity rates decline.