At an elementary school in East Aurora, children take a break from math and reading for Brain Gym, five minutes of stretching, jumping and tummy-rubbing exercises. In Elk Grove Village schools, youngsters dance in music class and study nutrition during science lessons.
In Oak Park, Downers Grove and Chicago Heights, pupils head outside most mornings to play ball, jump on the swings or walk around with friends–a 10- to 20-minute break the children call recess but the districts report as physical activity.
This is how these schools–and most other grade schools in Illinois–meet a state law requiring daily physical education.
Although Illinois has been nationally recognized for its commitment to physical education, most Illinois pupils don’t take a gym class more than two or three times a week, officials acknowledge. The state has given school districts great leeway in defining what a daily course of physical education involves.
“Our interest really lies in whether the kids are getting instruction in meeting or exceeding the state standards,” said Kim Knauer, spokeswoman for the state Board of Education. State standards for physical development and health include everything from physical competency in team sports and sustained physical activity to illness detection, team-building and conflict resolution.
“Organized, supervised activity with classroom teachers meets the legal requirement,” Knauer said.
But now a coalition of physical education teachers and health advocates is pressuring state education officials to close this loophole, arguing that the loose rules skirt the physical education mandate.
The Illinois Physical Activity Coalition for Kids recently issued a health watch list that targets more than 90 districts statewide. The list was drawn from a survey of physical education teachers, many of whom indicated their schools offer specialized PE classes only one or two times a week.
Advocates say allowing school districts to shortchange kids on physical education is dangerous in light of health studies that show more than 20 percent of grade school-age children are obese or overweight at unhealthy levels. They argue that it also ignores research demonstrating that regular physical activity improves concentration and memory by increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain.
“In light of all the health concerns about our children, we want to make the public aware that kids are not getting daily physical education,” said Beth Mahar, a physical education teacher at Homewood-Flossmoor High School and a spokeswoman for the coalition.
School officials say they are sympathetic to the argument that physical education teachers would be best qualified for this instruction but argue that many grade schools don’t have the space, staff or time to offer gym class every day.
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“The academic pressures are so great, and our school day isn’t long enough to get the job done,” said Karen Hart, principal at Rollins Elementary in East Aurora. “It’s been reading, writing and math. That’s the bell we’ve been answering from the state.
“The only way we can convince teachers to do any additional physical activities is to tie it to the academics,” such as with the Brain Gym exercises.
Educators say daily physical education instruction has not surfaced as a big concern for parents, who tell school officials they want their kids to be active at school but don’t much care whether that means running around a playground or in a gym with a PE teacher.
But Downers Grove parent Alison Clemens said she wasn’t aware until recently that the state considered her daughter’s 10-minute morning recess a suitable alternative to a daily physical education class.
“It’s not a structured program. Some kids are just running around, and some kids are just sitting there,” said Clemens, who has volunteered as a playground supervisor at her 4th grader’s school, Highland Elementary, which offers physical education classes twice a week.
Even in Naperville School District 203–which has become a national model for a progressive physical education curriculum that emphasizes lifelong fitness over athletic prowess–grade school children see a PE teacher only twice a week.
Paul Zientarski, one of the district’s physical education coordinators, said classroom teachers have been offered some guidance about how to provide a meaningful alternative to physical education class. But he acknowledges the result varies greatly, depending on the school and the classroom teacher.
“Quality daily PE is essential,” Zientarski said. “Just giving a kid a ball to play with is not quality PE.”
In cash-starved Chicago Heights District 170, pupils at the district’s 11 elementary schools take one class a week with a physical education teacher. On the other days, the classroom teacher must set aside 15 minutes for some type of physical activity.
“We’d love to offer more PE classes, but we can’t because of budgetary constraints,” Supt. Dollie Helsel said.
The county regional offices of education are responsible for annually inspecting schools to ensure that curriculum conforms to state law. If a school district cannot prove it is offering daily physical education, it could be cited for a violation and subject to a state investigation.
“We insist that they have some kind of directed physical activity. It’s not just throwing a basketball at recess. . . . It has to be organized,” said Jim Patterson, a compliance inspector and assistant regional superintendent for the DuPage County Regional Office of Education.
A handful of Chicago-area grade schools do offer daily classes with a physical education teacher.
“I think it’s extremely beneficial . . . particularly with our society emphasizing the importance of lifetime fitness,” said Dorothy Stanfield, curriculum coordinator for Homewood District 153, which has 10 PE teachers assigned to three schools.
“We know that developing a child’s physical health will help them academically. And if you have teachers who are experts in their field, the students are going to benefit,” she said.