LANSING- With regard to physical and health education, Michigan falls short of the nationally recommended standards, says Glenna DeJong.

The vice president of educational programs for the Michigan Fitness Foundation said that the state requires only that public schools offer phys ed and health classes, but individual districts decide how much time should be allotted for each class.

Only recently has the state, through the Michigan Merit Curriculum, made it mandatory that high school students have at least one credit of physical education or health to graduate.

Sen. Deborah Cherry, D-Burton, and Rep. Lee Gonzales, D-Flint Township, have proposed legislation to increase compulsory health and phys ed through all levels of schooling.

Cherry worked with the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports to develop the bill.

Angela Clock, a legislative aide in Sen. Cherry’s office, said the senator is a proponent of physical education and children’s overall physical health.

Vicki Baron, chief of staff for Gonzales said, "the representative is very interested in healthy lifestyle issues, including caloric intake, promoting healthier food choices, teaching children healthy eating habits at an early age and increasing physical fitness in schools.”

The proposals would follow the National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE) recommendations.

A physical educated person, as defined by the organization, demonstrates motor skills, understands movement concepts and demonstrates respect for self and others in a physical activity setting by participating.

The bills propose that by 2011 public schools will provide 30 minutes of physical education for three days and 90 minutes of health education for a year for grades K-5.

For grades 6-8 would provide 45 minutes of phys ed every day and 225 minutes of health education, each year.

Most public schools in Michigan offer physical and health education classes, but they do not set a mandatory amount of minutes for each student.

If the proposals pass, Michigan would become the 12th state to require a time allotment in K-5, the eigth to do it for grades 6-8 and the 11th to have the requirement for high school, according to the NASPE.

Having all three education levels would make Michigan the third state, after Massachusetts and Illinois, to do so.

Cherry’s bill is in the Senate Committee on Education. Gonzales’s bill is in the House Committee on Education.