[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1159 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1159

   To provide grants and contracts to local educational agencies to 
   initiate, expand, and improve physical education programs for all 
               kindergarten through 12th grade students.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 27, 1999

   Mr. Stevens (for himself, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Hagel, Mr. 
Bingaman, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Levin, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Thurmond) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
               on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide grants and contracts to local educational agencies to 
   initiate, expand, and improve physical education programs for all 
               kindergarten through 12th grade students.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR PROGRESS.

    Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 8001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

               ``PART M--PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR PROGRESS

``SEC. 10999A. SHORT TITLE.

    ``This part may be cited as the `Physical Education for Progress 
Act'.

``SEC. 10999B. PURPOSE.

    ``The purpose of this part is to provide grants and contracts to 
local educational agencies to enable the local educational agencies to 
initiate, expand and improve physical education programs for all 
kindergarten through 12th grade students.

``SEC. 10999C. FINDINGS.

    ``Congress makes the following findings:
            ``(1) Physical education is essential to the development of 
        growing children.
            ``(2) Physical education helps improve the overall health 
        of children by improving their cardiovascular endurance, 
        muscular strength and power, and flexibility, and by enhancing 
        weight regulation, bone development, posture, skillful moving, 
        active lifestyle habits, and constructive use of leisure time.
            ``(3) Physical education helps improve the self esteem, 
        interpersonal relationships, responsible behavior, and 
        independence of children.
            ``(4) Children who participate in high quality daily 
        physical education programs tend to be more healthy and 
        physically fit.
            ``(5) The percentage of young people who are overweight has 
        more than doubled in the 30 years preceding 1999.
            ``(6) Low levels of activity contribute to the high 
        prevalence of obesity among children in the United States.
            ``(7) Obesity related diseases cost the United States 
        economy more than $100,000,000,000 every year.
            ``(8) Inactivity and poor diet cause at least 300,000 
        deaths a year in the United States.
            ``(9) Physically fit adults have significantly reduced risk 
        factors for heart attacks and stroke.
            ``(10) Children are not as active as they should be and 
        fewer than 1 in 4 children get 20 minutes of vigorous activity 
        every day of the week.
            ``(11) The Surgeon General's 1996 Report on Physical 
        Activity and Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, recommend daily physical education for all students 
        in kindergarten through grade 12.
            ``(12) Twelve years after Congress passed House Concurrent 
        Resolution 97, 100th Congress, agreed to December 11, 1987, 
        encouraging State and local governments and local educational 
        agencies to provide high quality daily physical education 
        programs for all children in kindergarten through grade 12, 
        little progress has been made.
            ``(13) Every student in our Nation's schools, from 
        kindergarten through grade 12, should have the opportunity to 
        participate in quality physical education. It is the unique 
        role of quality physical education programs to develop the 
        health-related fitness, physical competence, and cognitive 
        understanding about physical activity for all students so that 
        the students can adopt healthy and physically active 
        lifestyles.

``SEC. 10999D. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``The Secretary is authorized to award grants to, and enter into 
contracts with, local educational agencies to pay the Federal share of 
the costs of initiating, expanding, and improving physical education 
programs for kindergarten through grade 12 students by--
            ``(1) providing equipment and support to enable students to 
        actively participate in physical education activities;
            ``(2) developing or enhancing physical education curricula 
        to meet national goals for physical education developed by the 
        Secretary in consultation with the National Association for 
        Sport and Physical Education; and
            ``(3) providing funds for staff and teacher training and 
        education.

``SEC. 10999E. APPLICATIONS; PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Applications.--Each local educational agency desiring a grant 
under this part shall submit to the Secretary an application that 
contains a plan to initiate, expand, or improve physical education 
programs in the schools served by the agency to meet the minimum 
program requirements described in subsection (b).
    ``(b) Program Requirements.--The program requirements referred to 
in subsection (a) are as follows:
            ``(1) Physical education programs shall facilitate 
        achievement of the goals for physical education, and the 
        curriculum of the programs shall provide--
                    ``(A) elementary school, middle school, and 
                secondary school students with not less than 150 
                minutes per week of instructional physical education 
                and, if practicable, daily instructional physical 
                education;
                    ``(B) fitness education and assessment to help 
                children understand, improve, or maintain their 
                physical well-being;
                    ``(C) instruction in a variety of motor skills 
                designed to enhance the physical, mental, and social or 
                emotional development of every child;
                    ``(D) development of cognitive concepts about motor 
                skill and physical fitness that support a lifelong 
                healthy lifestyle;
                    ``(E) opportunities to develop social and 
                cooperative skills and gain a multicultural perspective 
                through physical activity participation;
                    ``(F) involvement for all children in activities 
                that provide appropriate amounts and kinds of physical 
                activity; and
                    ``(G) instruction in healthy eating habits and good 
                nutrition.
            ``(2) Teachers of physical education shall have 
        baccalaureate degrees qualifying the teachers as physical 
        education specialists.
            ``(3) Teachers of physical education shall be afforded the 
        opportunity for professional development to stay abreast of the 
        latest research, issues, and trends in the field of physical 
        education.
    ``(c) Special Rule.--For the purpose of this part, extracurricular 
activities such as team sports and Reserve Officers' Training Corps 
(ROTC) program activities shall not be considered as part of the 
curriculum of a physical education program assisted under this part.

``SEC. 10999F. PROPORTIONALITY.

    ``The Secretary shall ensure that grants awarded and contracts 
entered into under this part shall be equitably distributed between 
local educational agencies serving urban and rural areas, and between 
local educational agencies serving large and small numbers of students.

``SEC. 10999G. PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND HOME-SCHOOLED STUDENTS.

    ``An application for funds under this part, consistent with the 
number of home-schooled children or children enrolled in private 
elementary schools, middle schools, and secondary schools located in 
the school district of a local educational agency, may provide for the 
participation of such children and their teachers in the activities 
assisted under this part.

``SEC. 10999H. REPORT REQUIRED FOR CONTINUED FUNDING.

    ``As a condition to continue to receive grant or contract funding 
after the first year of a multiyear grant or contract under this part, 
the administrator of the grant or contract for the local educational 
agency shall submit to the Secretary an annual report that describes 
the activities conducted during the preceding year and demonstrates 
that progress has been made toward achieving program requirements 
described in section 10999E(b).

``SEC. 10999I. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    ``The Secretary shall submit a report to Congress not later than 
June 1, 2003, that describes the programs assisted under this part, 
documents the success of such programs in improving physical fitness, 
and makes such recommendations as the Secretary determines appropriate 
for the continuation and improvement of the programs assisted under 
this part.

``SEC. 10999J. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

    ``Not more than 7 percent of the grant or contract funds made 
available to a local educational agency under this part for any fiscal 
year may be used for administrative costs.

``SEC. 10999K. FEDERAL SHARE; SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.

    ``(a) Federal Share.--The Federal share under this part may not 
exceed--
            ``(1) 90 percent of the total cost of a project for the 
        first year for which the project receives assistance under this 
        part; and
            ``(2) 75 percent of such cost for the second and each 
        subsequent such year.
    ``(b) Supplement Not Supplant.--Funds made available under this 
part shall be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State 
and local funds available for physical education activities.

``SEC. 10999L. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2000, $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, and $100,000,000 for each 
of the fiscal years 2002 through 2004, to carry out this part. Such 
funds shall remain available until expended.''.
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