AB 351 remains active on the Assembly Floor and we must ACT in each of the 80 assembly districts in California.

The advocates in support of AB 351 have taken to false statements and “drama” to support why high school students should be exempted from physical education. See some of their statements below.

Your Action Steps:

1. Step up to the plate - Call your Assembly district office and tell them to vote NO on AB 351.

2. Form your own team - Ask your friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues to call and request a NO vote on AB 351.

3. Report your success stories – Each day send an email or phone message to Jessica "Bear" Williams at the CAHPERD Office and report how many calls your team placed and which district you contacted.

March 9, 2009

Your URGENT ACTION is needed !

Three bills have been introduced into the California Assembly which propose to allow the substitution of other courses or activities for courses and graduation requirements for physical education.

CAHPERD members MUST educate and influence their Assembly district members on the issues associated with these bills, and we must do this quickly to be effective.

PLEASE read the information on our "Current Legislation" page and TAKE ACTION !

If WE don’t change the course of these three bills, who will?

Please read the information on the targeted bills and follow the action steps outlined.

FEBRUARY 5, 2009 - Action Alert #1 of 2

PDF Resources to this Action Alert:
"Physical Education and Marching Band, JROTC, and other Single Activities"
"Understanding the Difference: IS IT PHYSICAL EDUCATION OR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY?"

What You Need to Do
Please contact both of the legislators (Assembly Member and Senator) in your area and request that they not author, co-author or support legislation that will allow substitutions for physical education courses in our schools. Your request should be informative, educational, conclusive, and be supported by sound rationale for your request.

Why
In addition to California’s budget crisis and the threat to funding for physical education, physical education instructional programs in our schools are being targeted by advocates for substitute programs (marching band, JROTC, drill team, athletics, etc.) who are seeking legislation that will allow these substitutes to fulfill the current requirements for physical education.

Legislators have a February 27th deadline for bill submission, so they are developing language now. The first example was introduced yesterday in AB 223 (D-Ma) You can find the text of this bill by clicking here In addition, you will find a related article from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here. The sooner we act on this issue the better results we will have.

In recent years, legislation has been implemented which requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to monitor schools compliance with statutes and regulations related to physical education instruction. For decades, California law has outlined course content requirements clearly by stating that all high school students should receive instruction in each of eight content areas (Title 5, Section 10060). The California State Board of Education adopted a statement in 1999 stating that they and the California Department of Education did not support the granting of physical education course credits for such courses because they did not meet the content requirements.

Local school districts have continued to allow students to substitute these programs for physical education and receive physical education course credit. Now the requirements for monitoring will “expose” those practices and the marching band, JROTC, and other non-physical education programs are seeing that districts may no longer permit such practice. In addition, they are seeking a “home” in the instructional day, in order to prevent decline in enrollment and lack of interest in these programs.

Advocates are seeking to amend current education code through legislation or to add new codes that will permit the use of substitutions for physical education. They are looking at 1) Reducing or eliminating credentialing requirements in substitute areas 2) Weakening course requirements on what is defined as physical education, and 3) Encouraging the use of exemptions beyond the intent of legislation and education code.

As professionals, it is dependent upon us to inform and educate the lawmakers of California about quality physical education so they can deflect the efforts of others to implement public policy, which permits substitution for this vital part of our student’s education. If in your efforts, you actually have contact with a legislator (more likely one of the staff members), please me know what their questions are so we know what they are thinking.

How

• Call their office
• Send an email message to their office
• Fax a message to their office

Find contact information for your representatives by following these easy steps:

1. Go to www.leginfo.ca.gov
   
2. Click on the blue button titled: Your Legislature
3. Enter your zip code and you will find links to each of your legislators’ websites, with contact information.

Preparing your message:
CAHPERD has documents available that may help you prepare your message and we will be soon be posting a sample letter that you can use as a template. [See box below]

When
Please make sure your message reaches your representatives by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, February 9th.

Need Help ?
If you have questions about these positions, please contact me by email at kjohannes1@cox.net or phone 949-496-4345.

Keith Johannes
CAHPERD Legislative Committee Chair

Action Alert #2