Another Big Fat Mandate

Are the public schools the best solution to EVERY social problem?

Read this Preliminary Draft (PD) of a bill that has passed through the Health Commission and will be presented in this year's legislative session here in Indiana.

20061293
PD 3156/DI 104 2006
PRELIMINARY DRAFT
No. 3156
PREPARED BY
LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
2006 GENERAL ASSEMBLY
DIGEST
Citations Affected: IC 20-34-3-21.

Synopsis: Student health measurements. Requires each school
corporation to report certain student health data to the state department
of health. Requires the state department to publish an annual report
summarizing the data.
Effective: July 1, 2006.
PD 3156/DI 104 2006
Second Regular Session 114th General Assembly (2006)
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 20-34-3-21 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
2 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
3 1, 2006]: Sec. 21. (a) Each school corporation shall annually report
4 to the state department of health the height, weight, ethnicity, age,
5 and sex of the school corporation's students.
6 (b) A school corporation shall report data required under
7 subsection (a) according to rules adopted under this section. The
8 rules must include the following:
9 (1) Information regarding the importance of accurate
10 measurements and the collection of measurements for
11 improving children's health.
12 (2) Procedures for the measurement of children in a respectful
13 and dignified manner.
14 (c) Data may not be reported under this section in a way that
15 makes students personally identifiable.
16 (d) The state department of health, in consultation with the
17 department, shall publish and make available to the public an
18 annual report summarizing data collected under this section.
19 (e) The state department of health and the state board shall
20 adopt joint rules under IC 4-22-2 to implement this section.

Here we go again...another social need that is now being handed off to the public schools. Meanwhile, keep those national NAEP scores rising everyone (tongue-in-cheek).

This bill will pass because it sounds harmless and helpful. It shouldn't take too long to weigh, measure, record on spreadsheets and upload to the state every student in the school, should it?

No place in this bill does it tell the teachers what previous state-mandated curriculum they are supposed to ignore while they implement the latest big fat mandate. Just squeeze one more thing in. Every single curriculum study done in the last several years validates what every teacher instinctively knows already. There are not enough days in the year and hours in the day, to teach the mandated curriculum we already have. But hey, I guess what's one more thing when your plate already looks like it does at the church potluck!

There, I got that off my chest. To bad it will still end up the plate! :-)

Another good idea that doesn't help anything?