No Child Left Behind: Athletics

After the astounding success of no child left behind over the last decade, I propose that we should extend the policy to athletics. We should not make expect that run of the mill disorders like chronic back pain, juvenille arthritis, recurrent bursitis, or asthma should prevent children from achieving very moderate levels of athletic achievement, such as completing a four minute mile, doing ten pull ups in under a minute, and completing 100 sit ups.  Children will rise to the occasion if we simply let them know, gently and compassionately, that we expect more of them.     Of course, critics are concerned that this may mean that teachers in some areas which have unusually high rates of cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy to be penalized.  It is unreasonable, they say, to expect someone who can barely walk anyway to over exert themselves, making them frustrated in the process.   They claim that we are just teaching the children to "fake it" for PE testing, which is highly subjective and biased towards those who have superhero type genetic mutations.  In addition, they say, it is obvious that much of the fault of children's inability to perform has to do with unstylish athletic attire.  To the critics, I say this: We cannot allow our perception of what those who are differently abled are capable of to influence our expectations and prevent us from attaining our number one goal: Physical Fitness for Everyone.