Oregon Mandates Physical Education

Oregon's elementary and middle-school students would have physical education requirements phased in during the next decade as a result of final legislative approval of a bill Tuesday, according to the Statesman Journal.

House Bill 3141 passed the Senate on a 28-1 vote and went to Gov. Ted Kulongoski. It includes $1 million for Senate President Peter Courtney's physical-education proposals, which would require 150 minutes per week for elementary students and 210 minutes per week for middle-school students by 2017.

The money would provide grants for districts to hire and train teachers, and for the Department of Education to collect information on what districts are doing now and what they have to do to comply.