Addressing children's health to a group of doctors and nurses at the Ohio State Medical
Center in Columbus on Saturday (2/23/08), Sen. Barack Obama made the
following statement:
My home state of Illinois - I think, I'm pretty sure about
this - is the only state in the country now that still requires
phys ed [physical education] for local school districts. Most of
the schools have abandoned it because they're under-funded, they're
worried about testing.
First:
According to the National Association for Sport & Physical Education
(pdf file), Obama is wrong. The majority of states in the country
require physical education at schools.
(36 states require it at the elementary level; 33 in junior high; 42 at
the high school level.)
In addition (according
to NASPE again), Illinois is not even one of the 15 states that
require student assessment in physical education.
Second: Obama claims that schools are "under-funded." They may be in
the eyes of Obama, but as
these Department of Education charts from a few years back show,
federal funding for education has increased dramatically under President
Bush. (As of 2004, the Department of Education budget had already grown
58% under Bush (source).)
Big deal? No. But so far, I've yet to see any news outlet cite Obama
on his little gaffe.
+_+_+_+_+
By the way ... Has everyone read about
this
exchange between Sen. Obama and Tim Russert on Meet the Press back on
Jan. 22, 2006? (Via
Tony Blankley, via
Patterico:)
RUSSERT: ... When we talked back in November of ‘04 after
your election, I said, “There’s been enormous speculation about your
political future. Will you serve your six-year term as United
States senator from Illinois?” Obama: “Absolutely.”
OBAMA: I will serve out my full six-year term. You know, Tim, if you
get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary and you start
looking for new ways of saying things. But my thinking has not
changed.
RUSSERT: So you will not run for president or vice president in
2008?
OBAMA: I will not.
Now there's some change we can believe in!