Against the background of the social and economic transformations in the country, physical education in the schools is undergoing a serious crisis. The level of health of the rising generation is low, and the quality of the instruction is failing to foster adolescents' and young adults' desire to learn the values of physical culture and get actively involved in sports. The number of free sports and fitness services has been cut back, and the schools are losing qualified teachers who are able to conduct the work creatively. For this reason, a top-priority area in the modernization of the structure and content of general education is improving the effectiveness and the quality of the teaching of physical education, in order to strengthen and maintain the health of school students. This article discusses the tasks to be accomplished in order to promote the full-scale modernization of physical education in the schools. Among these are: (1) replacing physically and morally obsolete physical education and sports and fitness infrastructure, which is not capable of providing the conditions necessary for conducting classes in physical education and mass school sports and fitness events on a level that meets current standards; (2) enriching the content of this school subject in the context of the students' learning the values of physical and sports culture; (3) working out the theory and technologies of the physical training of children and adolescents suffering from ailments and impaired development; and (4) creating the organizational and methodological conditions necessary for the better health of students.