The 33-cent stamp, which goes on sale this week, is one of 15 stamps on a sheet depicting events from the 1950s. Schoolchildren taking part in the program's classroom activities and the public were invited to vote last year on the stamps that would be featured on the commemorative sheet. A court ruling has raised questions in Illinois about a 1995 law that enables the state school board to waive certain education requirements. A Cook County Circuit Court judge ruled May 12 that the state law was unconstitutional because it gives the board improper control over legislative matters. The ruling came in a lawsuit, filed by the 33,700-member Chicago Teachers Union in 1997, that challenged the state's decision to allow the Chicago schools to offer just two years of high school physical education in order to beef up other course offerings.
State law calls for four years of physical education in high school.
In addition to charging that the waiver law is improper, the CTU maintains that the Chicago waiver is bad educational policy and that it puts physical education teachers' jobs at risk. Though all waiver requests go through the state board, only the legislature can approve exemptions from mandated programs, according to Mike Hernandez, a lawyer for the board. Waivers not acted on by the legislature within 30 days of receipt are automatically approved. The state judge barred the Chicago schools from making the physical education change, which was scheduled to take effect in the fall. Both the state board and the 437,000-student Chicago district plan to appeal.