ACS CAN Applauds Ground Breaking New York City Physical Education Initiative

ACS CAN Applauds Ground Breaking New York City Physical Education Initiative

NEW YORK, NY – June 5, 2017 – Mayor Bill de Blasio has released a plan for Universal Physical Education for all schools by 2021.

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Metro New York Government Relations Director Michael Davoli released the following statement:

“The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) applauds Mayor Bill de Blasio for continuing to aggressively address the important public health issue of physical education in schools. Quality physical education, offered consistently to New York City students can have a tremendous impact on their health and well-being.

“By equalizing access to appropriate physical education, our city can take another important step forward in the battle against health inequities and toward efforts to reduce suffering and death from cancer. Over the past two years, the Administration took a huge step forward in addressing this inequality by committing $100 million over four years to hire 500 full-time physical education teachers for New York City schools lacking a physical education teacher.

“While this commitment is momentous, full-time physical education teachers cannot meet the needs of their students if they do not have the space and facilities for their physical education classes.

“Today’s historic capital commitment will ensure that all New York City physical education teachers have the physical education facilities they need and ensure that all New York City schools are complying with state physical education mandates by September 2021.

“Mayor de Blasio demonstrated with this investment his commitment to the health and wellbeing of New York City’s 1.1 million school kids. No mayor in memory has done more to improve the health of the school children of New York City than Mayor de Blasio. Thank you, Mayor de Blasio.”

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About ACS CAN
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.