Advocacy
HealthCorps works on the grassroots level in schools and communities but also believes its advocacy efforts are needed to assist in moving America to the tipping point of wellness. Advocacy efforts are currently focused on:
- Policy shifts that put health and physical education back into the core curriculum of the American education system;
- Policy shifts that move us towards safer environments affecting health (food and transportation systems, public space design) that encourage and enable people to be more physically active and spend more time in nature.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
ESEA is the nation’s most significant federal education law. HealthCorps joined a coalition of like-minded organizations to ask that health and physical education be elevated to “core subjects” or enjoy the same flexibility of federal funding as other subjects. Additionally, the organization has advocated for the inclusion of the Physical Education Program (PEP) as an authorized grant program.