Speaking up for Recess in Chicago Public Schools

By Amanda Chablani, HSC policy intern

On May 7, I boarded a bus to Springfield, Ill. with 160 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students and parents in an effort to convince legislators to bring recess back to CPS.  I only learned of the lobby day the week before; my shocked reaction, “There’s no recess?!” illustrated my ignorance in the matter.  I decided to do a bit of research to learn more.

Of course, I started with our own Healthy Schools Campaign blog, where I learned how we’ve talked about recess, and related school health issues in the past.  There, I found that while Illinois mandates daily physical education, many school districts petition for an exception. So in addition to lacking free play during recess, these kids don’t have access to many other types of physical activity on a regular basis.  And students in low-income communities are much more likely to be affected by both of these issues; schools that are trying desperately to improve test scores aren’t making time for recess or phys. ed (or art, music, and drama), and there are many areas of the city where parents hesitate to let their children walk to school (although there are a growing number of walking school buses around the city and across the country).

But given that research supports the idea that recess has a positive effect on learning and social development, how is it that there is no recess in many CPS schools?  With a bit of digging, I learned that CPS lost recess more than 25 years ago when many districts became closed-campus and  shortened their school day.  Today, at most schools, students have 20 minutes to eat lunch and their day ends at 2:30 p.m.

But not all schools have lost recess. After working with HSC for a couple of months now, I have no doubt that school health is a social justice issue – and recess is no exception. Natalie Pardo at the Chicago Reporter found in her survey of 485 CPS schools that “recess is available in only about 10 percent of schools that are at least 95 percent low-income.”

Free play time, especially for kids in elementary school, is critical to social development as well as to a life-long enjoyment of physical activity -- and, I just have to believe that kids need a break from school work just as we adults need a break now and then too.  But even more central to all of the work I’ve done here at HSC is the message that these things are particularly necessary and less available to kids living and attending school in low-income neighborhoods.

The good news is that the parent advocates I went to Springfield with have made progress in their efforts to bring recess back to Chicago! Last week, parent leaders presented more than 4,000 signed postcards in support of recess at a public school board meeting, where several parents also provided testimony. As a result, school leaders agreed to meet with parent and community leaders to establish a group that will address the recess issue and find solutions for Chicago schoolchildren. We’ll keep you posted as the effort expands.

Comments

[Kevin Drolet]

I am very eager to help in any way to help get these kids recess. Please contact me! What's next?