Physical education is important. Learning how to exercise decently (and, preferably, eat well and take care of yourself in general, although that's not quite PE) is very important, especially these days when everyone is so damn sedentary.
Yes, most jobs don't require heavy physical activity these days, but
life and health, if nothing else, demand that you remain physically fit and at least somewhat active.
My problem with gym in school is that it seemed so out-of-place. Who wants to go to four academic classes, then do a bunch of physical activity, then go right back to classes? That always seemed bizarre to me, because the last thing I want to do before going back to class is get sweaty or tire myself out. I think proper scheduling is important there, but I guess that can be difficult.
Yes, PE should be compulsory for all ages. I've had very good and very bad experiences with PE teachers over the years, and the fact is that they're no different from other teachers when it comes to quality variation.
I mostly agree, but I feel that (at least in my experience and those of others I've talked to), there's not a whole lot of expectation placed on PE teachers to actually
teach anything... resulting in the stereotype of a fat guy with a whistle yelling at a bunch of kids to "HUSTLE" while sitting on a chair. We need more expectations out of PE programs, because as it is, it seems like there's no real goal at all except "show up and do whatever activity is assigned".