A bill to add physical education as a core subject under the federal No Child Left Behind Act was introduced in Congress last week to address concerns of the growing risk of obesity among children.
Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., on Feb. 28 introduced the Strengthening Physical Education Act, which would also require an assessment of students’ fitness knowledge beginning in the 2009-10 school year.
The subject would be added to the current list of core areas required under the NCLB law, which include reading/language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.