House Bill 1839, our PE waiver bill, passed the Senate yesterday and is on the way to the Governor for his signature, having already passed the House. This is a major victory for IAHPERD and all physical educators and all children of Illinois. Now school districts cannot look upon PE waivers as a permanent solution to their budget or scheduling problems.
This is a culmination of 10 years of work trying to educate legislators and the public and trying to get a change in the PE waiver law. The next time a school district is granted a waiver, it will be for a maximum of 2 years and districts will be held to only two renewals from now on, for a total of six years.
Thank you to everyone in our profession and outside of it who contacted legislators to get this bill passed. You really made a difference! Thank you to all of the members of IAHPERD advocacy committees, who work tirelessly every day in their own schools and at the state level to promote physical education. Special recognition goes to Phyllis Pickett, Emily Mollett, Terri Andrews and Phil Lawler and a special thank you to the Council of Future Professionals, for sending so many students to Shape-up Illinois this year.
Please click here to view our lobbyist's comments on the Senate debate.
Please click the two links below to view the roll call votes on the bill in each chamber so that you can see if your legislator voted "yes". Please follow up by thanking them if they did vote "yes". Don't yell at the ones who voted "no", but I believe it is perfectly ok to contact him/her, if you live or work in their district, to ask them to justify their "no" and express your hope that they will support our issues in the future. Please say thank you to our supporters before you take off for the summer. Go to www.ilga.gov for contact numbers.
House votes
Senate votes