Editorial: Ignoring students’ health

Monday, May 28, 2007 | 6:08 a.m.

In an effort to improve science test scores for middle school students, Clark County School District officials are cutting back on physical education classes for seventh graders to make room for more science instruction.

As the Las Vegas Sun reported Tuesday, district officials say the trade-off is being considered as part of an ongoing effort to better prepare students for the science proficiency tests they must take in high school.

District officials told the Sun's Emily Richmond that physical education classes could continue somehow, perhaps as an elective during the school day or - worse - as an extracurricular activity that would make gym class accessible only to the students who could arrive early or stay late.

So much for not leaving children behind. Students who participate in extracurricular activities must have the transportation to get there, and sadly many children from lower-income families don't have that option.

But this is not simply a matter of equal access. Children who don't get enough physical activity are not healthy, and the overall health of a child has a direct effect on his or her cognitive and learning abilities. As state Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, told the Sun : "We know healthy children are healthy learners. Why are we forgetting that now?"

While School District officials work to improve science instruction by scrapping physical education, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are launching separate, albeit simultaneous, efforts to lure families to the outdoors where they not only can be physically active but also learn about natural sciences. Evidently, learning about science and being physically fit don't have to be mutually exclusive.

What's also troubling about the School District's proposal to ditch physical education is that this decision perfectly illustrates the types of terrible choices Nevada's poorly funded schools are forced to make. It is as if our children can't be healthy and well-educated at the same time. How pathetic that school officials are put in this spot because we have a governor and too many lawmakers willing to blindly follow him who refuse to adequately fund our schools.