Students! Your help needed to support Color Guard PE Credit

[jgehring]

California Students: If your teacher has not talked to you about AB351, please share this information with him/her. It doesn't matter whether your school has granted PE credit for Color Guard in the past, the rules have changed and it will not be allowed in the future unless something is done.

AB351 is currently under consideration in the California Assembly. It authorizes a school district to exempt students from the high school two-year PE requirement if the student is participating in the following courses:

• o California cadet corps
  o Cheer or dance team
  o Color guard or drill team
  o Junior Reserve Office Training Corps
  o Marching band

Therefore, AB 351 gives school districts more flexibility in meeting the needs of its students. School Districts can opt out of this waiver if they are in philosophical opposition to the exemption. San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Poway, and Temecula Valley Unified School Districts have already given their official support to this bill.

Current Status:
The California Assembly’s Committee on Education voted to approve this bill on April 1, 2009. At some point the bill will be voted on in the House. This will happen at the earliest in late May. After the approval by the Assembly, the California Senate will vote on the bill. Once approved by the Senate, the Governor will sign the bill.

What You Can Do:
The Assembly Members (and later the Senate and Governor) need to know how their constituents feel about AB 351. They need to send a letter, an email or make a phone call and convey their strong support for AB 351 (Salas). If you know of an organization that would like to support the bill, it should be on letterhead, but individuals can make phone calls, or write emails or letters. All written communication should be cc’d to Assembly Member Mary Salas, the sponsor of AB 351. She can include all communications in the public record.

• Assembly Member Mary Salas
  Tel. (916) 319-2079
  Fax. (916) 319-2179
  Assemblymember.Salas@assembly.ca.gov

All music teachers, friends and families need to contact their:

• 1. Assembly member – http://www.assembly.ca.gov
  2. Senate member – http://www.sen.ca.gov
  3. Governor – http://www.gov.ca.gov

Pretty easy website to find your representative:

http://www.legislature.ca.gov/port-zipsearch.html

Team up with your fellow teachers who teach the Dance Program, Drill Team, Cheer Team, Color Guard and JROTC at your school and have them contact their CA representatives as well. The parents of their students should also be contacting the representatives.

This is the first time that this problem has been addressed by supporting a change in the California Education Code. Because it is difficult to get a bill passed, it is very important that everyone take action now. Please remember, this provides school districts the freedom to make their own choices about this matter. It does not require a school district to provide the PE waiver, but if they decide to do so, they will be able to do it.

The California Music Educators Association supports AB 351 (Salas), and to get more information about this bill, such as sample letters, go online to http://www.ab351.org.

[oreocookis]

is there any update on this?

[jgehring]

Still waiting on the third revision and then it should go to the full assembly.

[jgehring]

AB 351 is scheduled to go for a vote of the full Lower House of the Assembly this Thursday, May 28. We absolutely need you and your supporters to help with advocacy. Outreach to northern California assembly members is particularly needed.

The current version of AB351:

1) Grants an exemption from PE, not actual PE credit. Many states do this and it will allow students to receive music credit for their high school transcript which is better for college.

2) Will apply to high school only.

3) Each program will meet 400 PE minutes in each 10 school days. AB 351 programs do this already and far beyond, which is our point.

4) A certificated employee of the district will either teach during the day or at least sponsor if after school.

5) Course must be completed to get the exemption.

6) “Any course will address the physical education standards…where germane in the professional judgment of that program instructor.”

7) Five out of six standards of the physical performance test (FITNESSGRAM) must be passed in the 9th or 10th grade in order for the student to continue with their exemption in the 11th and 12th grades, otherwise they go back to PE classes. This is the most controversial and it is fair to submit your concerns to Ms. Salas and your own assembly member.

[vore]

For a laugh at a load of crap from the PE lobby, read the following:

http://www.cahperd.org/

vore

[jgehring]

Vote in California Assembly postponed until week of June 1.

[jgehring]

AB351 is scheduled to be voted on in the CA Assembly, Wednesday, June 3.

Please encourage all of your parents to contact their assembly member for support.

Anyone can look up their California Assembly member at this website:

http://www.legislature.ca.gov/port-zipsearch.html

[jgehring]

AB351 has been sent back to the Assembly Education Committee.

This was unexpected but is possibly due to the recent amendments which further clarified the measure.

You can also visit http://www.ab351.org/

[jgehring]

It's important that members of the Assembly Education Committee be contacted by their own constituents. Look down this list and see if your community has a member on the committee. If so, the ball is in your court. Have your parents contact the assemblyperson. They should request their support of AB 351 and tell them that AB 351 DESERVES a FLOOR VOTE. Be polite, explain why this is important.

Contact information for the assembly education committee is available here: http://www.ab351.org/link.htm

Julia Brownley - Chair (D-Santa Monica)
Brian Nestande - Vice Chair (R-Palm Desert)
Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco)
Juan Arambula (D-Fresno)
Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo)
Wilmer Amina Carter (D-Rialto)
Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park)
Martin Garrick (R-Carlsbad)
Jeff Miller (R-Corona)
Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana)
Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch)

[Guard-Dad]

AB351 has been sent back to the Assembly Education Committee.

This was unexpected but is possibly due to the recent amendments which further clarified the measure.

I'm a little confussed, is this good or bad? I'm all for this passing, as much work put into being a color guard member FAR exceeds that done and any "regular" PE class.

BTW .. Nathan Fletcher is the Rep for District 75, this district represents the city of San Diego communities of La Jolla, University City, Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Peñasquitos, and Fairbanks Ranch, along with the City of Poway, portions of the City of Escondido, the community of Fairbanks Ranch and portions of Rancho Santa Fe.

http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/75/

[jgehring]

is this good or bad?

This isn't good. It should have been voted on today in the Assembly, but was pulled back into committee. This is unusual and was probably a delaying tactic by the bill's opponents.

It is important that constituents of the education committee members contact them and request their support of AB 351. Even though they are making decisions for the entire state, they don't really want to talk to anyone they don't directly represent. In two weeks it should be back out of the committee.

It is also helpful to contact your assembly person and request their support when AB 351 comes to a vote in the full assembly.

[vore]

The California State Committee on Education may hear the newly amended bill on June 17. Hopefully, it will be voted on to move it out of Committee. Read the newly amended bill at:

http://www.AB351.org/Amendment3.pdf

vore

[bandmama]

Here is the latest update from the AB351 website:

Agenda Blocked by Brownley -- Apparently, the opposition thinks we have packed up and gone home for the summer.

Unbelieveably, Julia Brownley, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Education is refusing to put AB 351 on the agenda for a vote of the Committee. To have AB 351 on the agenda this coming week, it is imperative that we contact Ms. Brownley before Friday, June 19th and tell her:
"Let freedom ring! Please let AB 351 be voted on in Committee."

We need dozens of phone calls and/or emails to Ms. Brownley's office immediately in order to have AB 351 put on the agenda for next week. Contact her directly at:

Assemblymember.Brownley@assembly.ca.gov

and/or

(818) 596-4141