MA Teachers Balk At Scheduling Of Hearing On School Recess Bill

BOSTON — Massachusetts teachers who wanted to testify on a bill that would require 20 minutes of recess a day for kindergarten and elementary school students may be out of luck. The House committee on education scheduled the next hearing on the bill at 11 a.m. on Sept. 4. That's the first day of school for the majority of public school districts in Massachusetts.

"They had all summer to schedule a hearing and yet they chose the first week of school," Deborah McCarthy, a teacher from Hull and chair of the Massachusetts Teachers Association's government relations committee, said in a Facebook post. "Unfortunately, for many educators this is their opening day and we will not be able to show up at the State House and offer testimony on why ALL students in the Commonwealth deserve at least 20 minutes of unstructured recess daily."

McCarthy asked parents, retired teachers and community members to attend the hearing and speak on behalf of the bill. The hearing will be held in Room A-1 at the State House.

A similar bill failed last year. Republican State Reps. Bradford Hill, of Ipswich, and Mathew J. Muratore, of Plymouth, co-sponsored the bill on behalf of MTA, the union that represents public school teachers in Massachusetts. Patch has reached out to both lawmakers for comment and will update this story when they get back to us.

In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended at least 20 minutes of daily, "unstructured physical activity and play" for elementary school students. A 2014 study of 200 elementary school students found that physical activity improved students' fitness and brain function. Backers also point to other studies that show children who have unstructured play time show higher levels of creativity and problem-solving skills, and are less disruptive in class.

But schools began cutting back on recess in the early 2000s, when the federal No Child Left Behind Act put a greater emphasis on standardized testing. In recent years, states have tried to reverse the trend, with Arizona, Missouri, Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Connecticut, Virginia, and Rhode Island passing laws requiring recess. Connecticut lawmakers are considering a law that would increase mandatory recess minimums to 50 minutes per day.

Dave Copeland writes for Massachusetts Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).