Remove current Educational Laws before adding new ones

this is less about recess and more about Legislators control of our local classrooms

In Tuesday, December 29th, 2015 Chronicle, reporter Andrew Caplan wrote a good article entitled, ‘A group of senators have proposed a bill that would shake up classrooms once more‘, about a proposed bill to extend recess in elementary classrooms.  I encourage you to read the article by following this link; http://goo.gl/ZUxQxo

While I greatly support and believe that students need recess or free play time, this is less about recess and more about Legislators control of our local classrooms.

Of course we want students to have recess– we were not the ones that made the educational testing laws that put the pressure on students, teachers, schools and districts which created the need to reduced non-instructional time for students. The legislators mandated what standards we must teach; then they used these mandated tests in a punitive manner. Now they are telling us when we should give recess. They already have mandated 150 minutes a week (30 consecutive minutes a day) of physical education/structured student physical activity time (a.k.a. SPA or PA). Now they want to add an additional 100 minutes of recess (20 minutes a day). If passed, this would mean that at the elementary levels 50 minutes a day (or 250 minutes a week) would be physical education/structured student physical activity time, recess/play time.  All by not reducing any of the educational requirements and testing mandated by the state Legislature and Florida Department of Education.

While I love the thought or more recess, the Legislator should I feel first deregulate the educational laws they already passed.  They could start first by removing the current law requiring the 30 minutes a day (150 minutes a week) of structured physical activity and instead let local classroom teachers, schools and districts decide.

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