BILL NUMBER: AB 1793 CHAPTERED 09/27/02 CHAPTER 943 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 26, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 27, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 5, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Migden (Principal coauthor: Senator Torlakson) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist and Jackson) (Coauthors: Senators Chesbro and Karnette) JANUARY 15, 2002 An act to amend Sections 33352 and 51220 of, to amend and renumber Section 51223.1 of, to add Sections 51210.2 and 60605.2 to, and to repeal Section 51223.5 of, the Education Code, relating to physical education. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1793, Migden. Education: physical education. (1) Under existing law, the State Department of Education is required to exercise general supervision over the courses of physical education in elementary and secondary schools of the state, and to perform other duties related to physical education in the schools. This bill would impose new duties on the department regarding physical education, including monitoring the number of hours of physical instruction offered to pupils in grades 1 to 12, inclusive. (2) Under existing law, the State Board of Education is required to adopt statewide academically rigorous content standards, pursuant to the recommendations of the Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards, in the core curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics, history/social science, and science. This bill would require the State Board of Education to adopt model content standards, pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in the curriculum area of physical education. (3) Under existing law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is required to select not less than 10 percent of the school districts of the state to report compliance with the provisions relating to physical education requirements for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and for elementary schools maintaining any of grades 1 to 8. Each school district selected by the superintendent to report is required to report its compliance with those provisions in the Coordinated Compliance Review. This bill would instead make those reporting requirements applicable to the physical education requirements for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and would make clarifying changes in related provisions. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 33352 of the Education Code is amended to read: 33352. (a) The State Department of Education shall exercise general supervision over the courses of physical education in elementary and secondary schools of the state; advise school officials, school boards, and teachers in the development and improvement of their physical education and activity programs; and investigate the work in physical education in the public schools. (b) The department shall ensure that the data collected through the Coordinated Compliance Review indicates the actual number of minutes of instruction in physical education actually provided by each school district, for the purpose of determining whether each school district is in compliance with the physical education requirements of Sections 51210, 51220, 51222, and 51223. (c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2007, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2007, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 2. Section 51210.2 is added to the Education Code, to read: 51210.2. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the physical fitness and motor development of children in the public elementary schools is of equal importance to that of other elements of the curriculum. (b) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to encourage each school district maintaining an elementary school composed of any of grades 1 to 6, inclusive, to do one of the following: (1) Employ a credentialed physical education teacher to provide instruction in physical education for each class of grades 1 to 6, inclusive, within any elementary school in the district for a total period of time of not less than 200 minutes each 10 schooldays, exclusive of recesses and the lunch period. (2) Provide each teacher providing instruction in physical education to any of grades 1 to 6, inclusive, within any elementary school in the district with yearly theoretical practical training in developmental physical education, as set forth in the Physical Education Framework adopted by the State Department of Education pursuant to Section 33350, except that any teacher who has successfully completed one college level course in elementary physical education shall not be subject to this paragraph. SEC. 3. Section 51220 of the Education Code is amended to read: 51220. The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, shall offer courses in the following areas of study: (a) English, including knowledge of and appreciation for literature, language, and composition, and the skills of reading, listening, and speaking. (b) Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the pupils. Instruction shall provide a foundation for understanding the history, resources, development, and government of California and the United States of America; instruction in our American legal system, the operation of the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems, and the rights and duties of citizens under the criminal and civil law and the State and Federal Constitutions; the development of the American economic system, including the role of the entrepreneur and labor; the relations of persons to their human and natural environment; eastern and western cultures and civilizations; human rights issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust, and contemporary issues. (c) Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than grade 7, designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking, reading, and writing the particular language. (d) Physical education, with emphasis given to physical activities that are conducive to health and to vigor of body and mind, as required by Section 51222. (e) Science, including the physical and biological aspects, with emphasis on basic concepts, theories, and processes of scientific investigation and on the place of humans in ecological systems, and with appropriate applications of the interrelation and interdependence of the sciences. (f) Mathematics, including instruction designed to develop mathematical understandings, operational skills, and insight into problem-solving procedures. (g) Visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater, and visual arts, with emphasis upon development of aesthetic appreciation and the skills of creative expression. (h) Applied arts, including instruction in the areas of consumer and homemaking education, industrial arts, general business education, or general agriculture. (i) Career technical education designed and conducted for the purpose of preparing youth for gainful employment in the occupations and in the numbers that are appropriate to the personnel needs of the state and the community served and relevant to the career desires and needs of the pupils. (j) Automobile driver education, designed to develop a knowledge of the provisions of the Vehicle Code and other laws of this state relating to the operation of motor vehicles, a proper acceptance of personal responsibility in traffic, a true appreciation of the causes, seriousness and consequences of traffic accidents, and to develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary for the safe operation of motor vehicles. A course in automobile driver education shall include education in the safe operation of motorcycles. (k) Other studies as may be prescribed by the governing board. SEC. 4. Section 51223.1 of the Education Code is amended and renumbered to read: 51210.1. (a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (A) The Education Code currently mandates 200 minutes of physical education every 10 schooldays for pupils in elementary school. Recent studies have shown that the vast majority of children and youth are not physically fit. (B) According to a March 1997 report by the Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of children and adolescents who are overweight has more than doubled in the last 30 years. Most of this increase occurred within the last 10 years. (C) Nearly 40 percent of children of ages five to eight years have health conditions that significantly increase their risk of early heart disease. (D) Some 70 percent of girls, and 40 percent of boys, who are from 6 to 12 years of age do not have enough muscle strength to do more than one pullup. (E) Most children lead inactive lives. On the average, first through fourth graders spend two hours watching television on schooldays and spend close to three and one-half hours watching television on weekend days. (2) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature that all children shall have access to a high-quality, comprehensive, and developmentally appropriate physical education program on a regular basis. (b) (1) Each school district selected by the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to paragraph (2) shall report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the Coordinated Compliance Review as to the extent of its compliance with subdivision (g) of Section 51210 for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, during that school year. (2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall select not less than 10 percent of the school districts of the state to report compliance with the provisions set forth in paragraph (1). The school districts selected shall provide a random and accurate sampling of the state as a whole. (c) For purposes of determining compliance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b), the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall not count the time spent in recesses and the lunch period. (d) A school district that fails to comply with the existing statutory requirements shall issue a corrective action plan to the State Department of Education in accordance with the Coordinated Compliance Review process. (e) This section shall not be applicable to high schools. SEC. 5. Section 51223.5 of the Education Code is repealed. SEC. 6. Section 60605.2 is added to the Education Code, to read: 60605.2. (a) No later than December 1, 2004, the State Board of Education shall adopt model content standards, pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in the curriculum area of physical education. (b) The model content standards are intended to provide a framework for programs that a school may offer in the instruction of physical education. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a school to follow the model content standards.