The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
News of the Tautological
“Cold Temperatures Freeze Water Pipes”–headline, KSAT-TV website (San Antonio), Feb. 2
Breaking News From Exodus 2:22
“We Are All Egyptians”–headline, New York Times, Feb. 4
Bottom Stories of the Day
- “High School Seniors to Stage Talent Show”–headline, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 3
- “Union Study Says Michigan’s Public Employees Are Not Overpaid”–headline, MLive.com, Feb. 3
Exercise Till It Kills You
“Bills to require schools to provide an average of 150 hours per week of physical education are just part of what’s needed to fight childhood obesity, church and health groups said yesterday,” the Fredericksburg (Va.) Free-Lance Star reports from Richmond, the state capital:
The groups lauded bills, passed by both houses, that require schools to provide more physical education for children.
The bills would have elementary and middle schools devote 150 hours a week, on average, to physical education.
That doesn’t include recess, though, said Cathleen Smith Grzesiek of the American Heart Association.
She said kids need time for an unstructured break during school hours.
This is lunacy. Let’s say Virginia kids get half an hour a day, Monday through Friday, for recess. Add that to the 150 hours a week of P.E., and that’s a total of 152.5 hours.
There are 168 hours in a week. This plan would leave only 15.5 hours a week–or just under one hour and 13 minutes a day–for math, reading, science, history and any electives, plus all extracurricular activities, including eating and sleeping.
Though if this story is any indication, Virginia’s schools aren’t bothering to teach math anyway.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
