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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Miera

DATE TYPED 3-11-05

HB 62/aHEC/aHAFC

SHORT TITLE Elementary School Physical Education

SB

ANALYST Segura

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

See Fiscal

Implications Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAFC Amendment

House Appropriation and Finance Committee amendment to House Bill 62 removes the appro-

priation and inserts a definition for “elementary physical education.”

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

House Education Committee amended House Bill 62 as follows:

•

Clarifies the definition of Physical Education.

•

Cleans-up duplicative language.

•

Clarifies the role of the PED in monitoring Physical Education programs.

•

Includes a requirement in the school plan to provide the number of minutes physi-

cal education will be offered during the week.

•

Removes physical education as part of the assessment for AYP.

House Bill 62/aHEC/aHAFC -- Page 2

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 62 appropriates $4,000.0 for physical education in grades K-6 and for developmen-

tally delayed three and four year old students. Requires that the program be phased in over a

seven year period and establishes that the number of elementary physical education program

units within the funding formula be determined by a cost differential factor of 0.0589. The legis-

lation includes a definition for “physical education”.

Significant Issues

The bill requires that the program begin with those schools that have the highest proportion of

students most in need based upon the at-risk index and space availability. It further requires eli-

gible public schools to submit an elementary physical education program plan to the PED and

establish minimum criteria for that plan and report annually to the Legislative Education Study

Committee.

According to PED, “physical education is defined by the PED as instruction that meets the New

Mexico Physical Education Content Standards with Benchmarks, however, the definition in

House Bill 62 does not support the definition.”

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

In addition, PED indicates that, physical education is not part of the required statewide testing

for AYP, therefore the PED cannot determine if schools funded by the program are “meeting the

academic content and performance standards necessary to ensure adequate yearly progress of

students in the program. The federal legislation for the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 does

not require states to include physical education as part of the assessment for AYP.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

House Bill 62 appropriates $4,000.0 from the general fund for FY06 for the first phase of a seven

year phase-in of the program. The funding is recurring. The appropriation will fund approxi-

mately 22,130 students through the funding formula at the current unit value of $3,068.70 and

applying the cost differential factor included in the bill of 0.0589.

House Appropriations and Finance Committee removed the appropriation. The bill still requires

that the program be phased in over seven years. The attached information reflects that currently

half of the elementary schools already have Physical Education programs. Enactment of the bill

would have significant recurring appropriation needs in the future, beginning in FY07.

Currently, Senate Bill 190 contains an appropriation of $2.0 for FY06.

Education reform may require the expenditure of at least an additional $26 million in FY07 as

follows: $16 million for raising minimum salaries of level 3-A teachers to $45,000; $4 million

for pre-kindergarten; and $6 million for fine arts. These will be in addition to expected increased

costs for opening the doors (fixed costs, insurance, enrollment growth, and increased employer

contributions to the educational retirement fund) which could be another $35 million. In addi-

tion, $4 million is needed for increased employer contributions to educational retirement fund

from higher education institutions. It may be prudent to avoid additional commitments to recur-

House Bill 62/aHEC/aHAFC -- Page 3

ring appropriations in future fiscal years.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

If House Bill 62 is enacted, the PED would administer the distribution of the funds through the

State Equalization Guarantee.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The initial recommendation by the Legislative Education Study Committee in HB3 included

funding for this program. The current HAFC substitute does not provide funding for elementary

physical education programs.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

House Bill 62 does not specify whether or not the units for Physical Education are calculated be-

fore or after the Training and Experience factor within the funding formula.

The definition of elementary physical education in House Bill 62 only requires schools to meet

one of the seven Content Standards for Physical Education by requiring students to “participate

in activities”.

RS/yr:lg