N.C. Senate Mulls Merits Of Character Education

The Student Citizen Act, backed by 15 Democratic sponsors and publicly supported by Gov. Mike Easley, requires state schools to develop a character-education curriculum to teach students integrity, kindness and respect.

But the act also would promote civic involvement by middle and high school students.

If passed, the bill will require state schools to implement a one-week social studies unit on the law-making and voting process as well as conduct classroom discussion on current events.

It would also require high school students to write an elected official about issues important to them.

The middle school curriculum would include a tour of local government facilities such as a jail or town hall.

Students also would be required to analyze a local community problem and offer public policy recommendations on the problem to local officials, like the town mayor or council members.

Sen. Linda Garrou, D-Forsyth, a co-sponsor of the bill, said she is concerned that young people are becoming "turned off" by politics and welcomes the civics instruction proposed in the bill.

"Young folks need to know what makes North Carolina such a great state to live in," Garrou said.

She said she expects the bill to attract bipartisan support once Republican lawmakers have studied it.

"I expect a number of Republicans will sign on," Garrou said.

Sen. John Garwood, R-Wilkes, said he has not yet read the bill but that it would not necessarily garner the support of Republicans.

"A lot of schools have already implemented character education," Garwood said. "So I need to see the bill to know it's really needed."

While character-based education has been touted by politicians of both parties, the 2000 Democratic and Republican national platforms reveal different philosophies in how to teach character.

The Republican platform stressed character instruction outside the schools rather than within. It called for "faith-based and community organizations to take leading roles in after-school programs that build character and improve behavior."

The Democratic platform stated that character education is "important in our schools" and "education should not be a morals-free zone" and "schools need to make sure they teach kids respect, reliability, and responsibility as well."

For his part, President Bush has expressed interest in both the controversial faith-based proposals and the incorporation of character education in public schools' curricula.

The bill is expected to go to the Senate floor for a vote no later than April 26, and Garrou said she expects swift passage in the Senate.

Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, said he expects the proposal to eventually garner bipartisan support.

"There has been a lot of interest in this for at least four years," Lee said. "This whole character-education idea is very popular across political lines."

Kim Hoke, assistant to the superintendent for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, said she has not seen the bill but added that character-based instruction is already part of the curricula at several local schools, including Scroggs Elementary School.

"It has worked best for us to allow individual schools to develop their own programs," Hoke said. "It's been a site-based decision."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.