Tonight the Portland Public School Board takes up a proposal to reduce the budget by eliminating physical education teachers at elementary and middle schools. This proposal was in lieu of eliminating art and music teachers, or considering reducing days in the coming school year. As the economy continues to falter the options left for public budgets are challenging at best. So how does this relate to the Archimedes Movement?
School board members need to hear from their constituents about the relationship between physical activity and health, along with the challenges we face with the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. As long as decisions that impact the public’s health continue to be made in silos, we will see schools eliminate PE, while health departments look for funds to increase youth activities and combat childhood obesity, and health systems struggle to provide care for conditions like diabetes that might have been preventable. And this goes beyond PE – arts and music also contribute to the physical and emotional health of young people.
We understand that the Portland Public Schools are facing a budget crisis and that their options feel limited. But it is time to make a decision that impacts much more than the school period each day for PE. We are talking about the health of young people in our communities. We need to make physical education programs stronger and more effective, not eliminate them.
Below are the email addresses for the PPS School Board members, plus the superintendent, Carol Smith. Remember that Board members are community volunteers elected by the public to act in a policy-making role for the district and they deserve respectful input to help with their decisions. And these are touch choices before them.
Please contact them today and ask them to find ways to improve the health of Portland’s youth as they move through the school system, rather than take away existing opportunities for kids to be more active. We Can Do Better for our kids.
Thanks,
Liz
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Board Members:
Ruth Adkins radkins@pps.k12.or.us
David Wynde david.wynde@pps.k12.or.us
Bobbie Regan bobbie.regan@pps.k12.or.us
Martin Gonzalez mgonzalez@pps.k12.or.us.us
Pam Knowles pknowles@pps.k12.or.us
Trudy Sargent tsargent@pps.k12.or.us
Dilafruz Williams dilafruz.williams@pps.k12.or.us
Henry Johnson, student representative hjohnson@pps.k12.or.us
Carol Smith, Superintendent csmith1@pps.k12.or.us
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