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New Physical Education Requirements in Tennessee

Exciting news from Tennessee: Governor Bill Haslam signed the Physical Education Act into law, which requires elementary schools across the state to provide at least 60 minutes of physical education for students each week! Additionally, the physical education curriculum must be taught by a certified physical education teacher.

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This effort was successful due to collaborative efforts by the Tennessee School Health Coalition, American Heart Association, Tennessee Coordinated School Health, Tennessee Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Tennessee Association of School Boards, Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents, Mission: Readiness, and the Tennessee Department of Education.  Approximately 400,000 Tennessee students will be positively impacted by the new law!

The Tennessee School Health Coalition, along with its partners, worked for the last two years to secure passage of this legislation to ensure that children are receiving effective physical education to create healthy habits.  Before this law passed, Tennessee schools were not required to provide physical education to students.  The law will go into effect on July 1, 2019. Congratulations to all of the partners in Tennessee on a great first step in ensuring that physical education is provided to all of our kids!

Raise your voice to ensure children have access to effective physical education – Sign up for the PE Action Team!