New York S 4227: Requires instruction in physical education in certain elementary and secondary schools

Bill Text

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S04227 Summary:

BILL NOS04227 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORPARKER

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COSPNSR

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MLTSPNSR

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Amd §803, Ed L

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Requires instruction in physical education in certain elementary and secondary schools including for students with disabling conditions and those in alternative education programs.

Go to top S04227 Actions:

BILL NOS04227 

&nbsp

02/03/2025REFERRED TO EDUCATION

01/07/2026REFERRED TO EDUCATION

Go to topS04227 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS04227 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS04227 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 4227

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 February 3, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Education

 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring instruction
 in physical education in certain elementary and secondary schools

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Legislative intent. (i) The legislature hereby finds and
 2 declares that the health and physical activity of its children and youth
 3 are and have been a long-standing health objective of the state. Against
 4 a background of epidemic levels of child obesity, in which at least 1
 5 out of 3 children is now considered overweight or obese, physical educa-
 6 tion has become even more particularly important in the role it plays in
 7 the state's health objectives for its children and youths.
 8 (ii) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 9 (CDC), the academic success of America's youth is strongly linked with
 10 their health. Furthermore, the CDC has studied and documented that
 11 students who engage in sixty minutes or more of physical activity five
 12 or more days per week do better in school. Research also indicates that
 13 obese children and youth have higher absenteeism and lower reading
 14 proficiency scores than their non-obese peers.
 15 (iii) Although it may be correlation and not causation, many kids are
 16 spending less time exercising and more time in front of the TV, comput-
 17 er, or video-game console. And today's busy families have fewer free
 18 moments to prepare nutritious, home-cooked meals. From fast food to
 19 electronics, quick and easy is the reality for many people in the new
 20 millennium.
 21 (iv) Our schools are uniquely positioned to meet children's and
 22 youth's physical activity needs. Physical education can be the corner-
 23 stone of building healthier student bodies, healthier neighborhoods and
 24 higher achievement. This is true in physical education's role as an
 25 integral part of a school's instruction, health education classes,

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD07879-01-5

 S. 4227 2

 1 elementary and secondary school recess, after-school activity clubs,
 2 intramural or interscholastic programs. Taken together, these sorts of
 3 activities can raise children's and youth's self-esteem, physical compe-
 4 tence, and open new careers and activities to them.
 5 (v) The legislature finds and declares therefore that mandatory phys-
 6 ical education in schools is a key part of protecting the health of our
 7 children and youth, the adults into which they will grow, and an impor-
 8 tant tool in preventing the myriad diseases plaguing New York that
 9 derive from child obesity and lack of physical activity.
 10 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 803 of the education law, as amended by
 11 chapter 118 of the laws of 1957, is amended to read as follows:
 12 5. (a) It shall be the duty of the regents to adopt rules determining
 13 the subjects to be included in courses of physical education provided
 14 for in this section, the period of instruction in each of such courses,
 15 the qualifications of teachers, and the attendance upon such courses of
 16 instruction.
 17 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the regents
 18 shall provide in its rules that the physical education instruction
 19 requirement for all students enrolled in elementary and secondary school
 20 grade