School mandate reform proposals cut P.E., save junk food,

A hearing is set this morning on legislation from Democratic senators to repeal, suspend or revise dozens of mandates on public schools.

Three bills, covering everything from AIDS education to student transfers to employee training, will be considered by the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee.

The 10 a.m. hearing comes less than a day after the introduction of SB 5880 by Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, SB 5889 by Sen. Steve Hobbs and SB 5890 by Sen. Joe McDermott.

Under the bills, requirements to be repealed include:

-maintaining the Legislative Youth Advisory Council;
-developing a physical education and fitness curriculum;
-creation of school health advisory committees;
-banning junk foods during school hours;
-providing a minimum of 150 hours of physical education class each week;
-including elements of traffic safety of driver education courses;
-writing student learning plans for students in grades eight through 12;
-observing Temperance and Good Citizenship Day..

Ones to be suspended until July 1, 2011 include:

-accepting of inter-district transfers of children of school employees;
-providing AIDS education once per year;
-providing instructional materials for Holocaust instruction;
-adopting and implementing a safe school plan;
-preparing classroom based assessments in civics education at specified grades;
-conducting visual and auditory screening,

Another proposed change would allow training of employees on how to spot child abuse and neglect, resolve conflicts and prevent sexual harassment to be held once every four years rather than annually.

Teachers, parents, principals and superintendents constantly prod lawmakers to stop imposing new rules on public schools without providing money to pay for them. The growing number of unfunded mandates is draining school district budgets of already scarce dollars, they say.

Hobbs said such frustration led him to initiate this year’s conversation on deregulation.

“We’re in a budget crisis and we have to help these schools out,” he said.