Will Mandatory Recess Become the Law for Arizona Schools?

by David Safier

On the one hand, a bill mandating recess in Arizona elementary schools not a big deal, because it’s such a no brainer. Who wouldn’t be for allowing children to have a run-around-and-laugh-out-loud break during the school day?

But on the other hand, it’s a big deal, because many elementary school students don’t have that much needed break. And it’s also a big deal for this blog, because a few of our regular commenters have earned bragging rights, since they have been intimately involved in the process.

At this point, the Senate has passed House Bill 2037, which says students must have at least 30 minutes of recess. I think there are caveats built in to allow districts to wiggle out of the mandates, but I don’t know the details of the bill in its current form. Maybe our resident experts can help me out.

And it’s not a bill yet. It still needs to pass in the House.

“Wasting time” is an incredibly valuable part of good education, as any good teacher knows. It can be a teacher schmoozing with students about a movie or a TV show, or a celebration of someone’s birthday, or some inane little game the teacher has the students participate in, while assuring them there won’t be a test at the end of the game. It’s part of establishing the atmosphere of a good classroom. Recess is one of those important types of “wasting time,” when students can let out their nervous energy and pent up emotions by hanging out and running and kicking a ball and playing jacks, or just sitting on a bench talking with friends if that’s what they choose to do. If I have to choose between free recess and structured PE for K-5, I’ll choose recess every time. Both is better still.

UPDATE: According to commenter steve j gall, “The school districts can’t wiggle out of this mandate because it states a 30 minute recess plus a 20 minute lunch.” He has also been asked by the bill’s author (Rep. Anderson, a Mesa Republican) to appear at the House Education Committee session. And commenter Mariana urges everyone to write to Reps in their districts in support of the bill.
District 26
Nancy Young Wright D nyoungwright@azleg.gov
Pete Hershberger R phershberger@azleg.gov
District 27
Phil Lopes D plopes@azleg.gov
Olivia Cajero Bedford D ocajerobedford@azleg.gov
District 28
David Bradley D dbradley@azleg.gov
Steve Farley D sfarley@azleg.gov
District 29
Linda Lopez D llopez@azleg.gov
Tom Prezelski D tprezelski@azleg.gov
District 30
Marian McClure R mmcclure@azleg.gov
Jonathan Paton R jpaton@azleg.gov

An Unrelated Note: I keep finding new reasons to be proud I’m part of Blog for Arizona. The most recent is Mike’s ridiculously democratic (small “d”) idea of opening the blog to one-timers who have something to say. The first entry is Mickey Duniho’s post (two down from this one) about the need to recount the RTA election ballots. The papers have written about this topic from a reporter’s vantage point, but Mickey is in the thick of the local Election Integrity group and is able to explain the issue in a way no reporter can match. An excellent start that shows the potential of this experiment.