News-Record.com

This commentary is not necessarily in line with the header regarding Character Education Forum, but I thought that I would post it anyway.

The News-Record had an interesting article on the Second Opinion page today, entitled "Utah seeks real choice on education". This article was a really amazing reporting of what the state of Utah is doing to enhance the education of the state's children through school choice.

Legislation is pending that would allow parents who wish to enroll their child in a private school to deduct some of the tuition expenses from their state income tax bill. While that is worth reporting that there are actually states that value school choice, proponents say that this will actually help strengthen public schools. It is reported that Utah is facing a massive increase in school enrollment which will place a strain upon the state to build more schools and hire more teachers. The positive of allowing parents to deduct some of their private school tuition from their taxes is that it will actually relieve much strain on the public system and allow it to more easily address the needs of the children who stay in the public system. In this manner, schools will actually be able to do more with less.

Another principle that proponents mention is that parents know their children best and they, not bureaucrats, ought to make the important decisions about their children's education. Preventing parents from making this choice for their own children seems wrong.

"School choice programs give parents more choices, and the public schools have more money to spend on fewer kids. Giving parents more options makes a state friendly and promotes parental involvement. When parents know they have options, they are more inclined to research and consider which of those options is best for each of their children. For a state like Utah, where families and children are seen as high priority, school choice should be a "no brainer"."

Wow, could anyone say this better, and why are we in Guilford County stuck with dealing with a school board that feels that giving parents school choice means the choice plan and a lottery? Does everyone have to move to Utah to have an enlightened education opportunity for their children? Something is very wrong in Guilford County, it seems.

"Character education" is an oxymoron, especially in public schools.

You cannot TEACH "character." It cannot be found in a book or course, especially one that cannot discuss religion.

To try and TEACH "character" is a noble quest but Guilford County PUBLIC schools should concentrate on teaching academics and basic social skills. From what I see from test results in Guilford County, this system has no business trying to pretend that it can go beyond the scope of academia.

Susan Mendenhall is speaking at the Character Education forum? Just how were the panelists chosen?

I'd be glad to explain that. Judy Wicker, the News & Record's community relations manager, put the forum together and chose the panelists.

In other words, I didn't pick 'em, although I did give Judy a list of students, teachers and principals I interviewed to for the story. Some of those folks will serve on the panel.

Susan Mendenhall was selected because she serves on the state's character education committee and was chairman of the school board when it adopted a character education program in the mid-1990s. So she has been following this subject closely for quite some time.

Character has to start at home and at a very young age. Now some kids may not have the best home environment and programs like Peacemakers and learning and practicing character words of the week can teach a child an understanding of what it is and that its a seen as a "good" thing to have in society. Whether he chooses to want to have "character" or not is up to him.

The environment outside of school has the strongest influence on one's character. Children are what they learn at home. It is something you "have" not learn. You can learn character traits and be given little rewards for practicing these little traits like respect. This is rewarding good behavior which is not the same thing. But do you really have character or are you just practicing the word of the week?

Regardless once you are in middle school or even much younger, the mold has been set.

p.s. You can "build" character but you can't really teach it.

Teddy,

I also much enjoyed the op-ed yesterday from David Salisbury regarding true choice available to residents of 3 states and hopefully soon to be Utah.

Bruce - can you provide a link to that article so that all can read?

I wish that our state legislature could be proactive and allow the residents of North Carolina to exercise true choice for parents in the education of their children.

It is perfectly logical - allow parents to really choose the best academic environment for their children - whether it be private or public. Those choosing private schools take some of the burden off the public school sector and help to relieve overcrowding. The public schools continue to receive the same level of funding, but now they must actually spend the money wisely or parents will CHOOSE to send their children to private school.

Private school today is an option only for those parents who can afford it. The use of vouchers and tax credit would make the option of private school available for all individuals - regardless of income.

Bruce,

So you're saying that Susan Mendenhall, former chairman of Guilford County BOE (lol), adopted a character education program in the mid 1990s??

I'm no math wiz but that would mean that it's been going strong for about 10 years?

I'd like to see an anaylsis of this "plan"? Is there any findings that we should even be spending another dollar on it?

If you ask me, it ain't workin'!!

Bruce,

Thanks for your response.

Just my opinion...Susan has been sitting on the wrong side of the table for too long.

I can't find a link to the David Salisbury op-ed, so I'll just post the whole thing here. It's not too long:

UTAH SEEKS REAL CHOICE ON EDUCATION

Utah's legislature is considering two bills that, if passed into law, will show the rest of the nation the personal and financial benefits of school choice.

The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship bill would give parents of children with learning or other disabilities the choice of enrolling their child in the local public school or in a private school chosen by the parents.

The other piece of legislation, the Tuition Tax Credit bill, would allow other parents who wish to enroll their child in a private school to deduct some of the tuition expenses from their state income tax bill.

The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship bill already passed the House. The Tuition Tax Credit bill may come up for a vote sometime this week.

Arguments in favor of both bills are strong. Parents know their children best and they, not bureaucrats, ought to make the important decisions about their children's education. In a state where people pride themselves on strong families and self-reliance, preventing parents from making this important choice for their own children seems wrong.

It would be unfortunate if Utah legislators voted to pass only the Carson Scholarship bill and not the broader Tax Credit bill. It's not just parents of special needs children who deserve a say in where their children go to school. No matter how good a public school is, it can't meet the needs of every child.

There is another practical argument for the Tax Credit bill. Utah is facing a massive increase in school enrollment due to a growing school age population and migration from other states. Statewide K-12 school enrollment is predicted to increase by 100,000 during the next 10 years.

To handle such massive growth, the government would have to build 160 schools and hire 4,000 teachers. Utah already ranks among the most heavily taxed states in the nation; increasing taxes to pay for such a large number of new schools and teachers would be a heavy burden for taxpayers to bear.

The Tuition Tax Credit bill would help to relieve the burden on public schools and taxpayers. As more children attend private schools, more spaces would become available in public schools, decreasing the demand for buildings and teachers.

Also, the tuition tax credit would cost about half of what the state pays to educate a child in the public schools. The rest of the money would be left in the public system, further easing the funding challenges on public schools. According to even the most conservative estimates of the number of children that would enroll in private schools, there is no question that the public schools and the state budget would benefit.

The Tax Credit bill would also provide incentive for positive changes in public schools. Experience with school choice in other parts of the country has shown that public schools respond constructively to increased competition from private schools. In Milwaukee, for example (where children receive vouchers worth up to $5,783), the improvement in the public schools has been impressive.

If Utah passes the Tuition Tax Credit bill, it will become the fourth state to give school choice to parents statewide. Florida, Arizona and Pennsylvania already have school choice programs that are showing positive results.

School choice programs give parents more choices, and the public schools have more money to spend on fewer kids. Giving parents more options makes a state family friendly and promotes parental involvement. When parents know they have options, they are more inclined to research and consider which of those options is best for each of their children.

For a state like Utah, where families and children are seen as high priority, school choice should be a "no brainer."

David Salisbury is director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; Web site: www.cato.org.

Bruce,

Outstanding! Thanks for posting the article. Now, is there anyway you can get the GCS board members and administration to read it?

This is REAL CHOICE made by real parents in the best interest of their children as opposed to social engineering experimentation brought to us by Dot, Susan, Alan, Marti and Kris.

Hey Barbara, am I hearing this right, Susan is going to speak? Is this the normal act when she sits on Dot's lap and her lips move, but its really Dot's voice.

I don't know about you, but I've been waiting for her to speak for the last year. Perhaps if Susan would speak but not vote Guilford County would be a better place.

Personally I thought the first forum was well organized, but I was dissappointed in what was covered. It took way to long to introduce people and only about 5 people got to ask questions and there was never any proposals to help with the crime- I hope that real solutions can be discussed this time; examples of programs that work, and suggestions on how to implement these programs.

If you have followed the history of the board, oftentimes they listen but have no "ears". We can all keep talking about the violence, lack of discipline; lack of respect in our schools, but until there is back-up and support from the top down, it is hard to make any changes.

It is unbelievable that kids can just play cards in the middle of the day; smoke in bathrooms; cuss and push and bully other kids on a daily basis. It is sickening to read about the teacher who had his nose broken by a student while trying to break up a fight and the kid was back in school and laughs at him daily. How humiliating is that. (See Rhino last week for full story.) When teachers get this lack of support no wonder they keep leaving our schools.

Kids need boundaries. Read any psychology books on teenagers/kids. If there are no boundaries, they will just keep limit testing and the problems will just continue to escalate. It is a sorry situation, to say the least.

It is interesting to me when people say that teaching "character education" in school is a waste of time or "not the job of public schools." (Reference gotochurch's post).

I would like to reflect that we did not always, but now teach dental health and hygeine, we teach physical education, we teach about diet and nutrition. Why did we add these things to the reading, writing, and arithmetic curriculum? Because we realized that children need to learn to care for their teeth, to learn about how important it is to be physically fit to prevent heart disease and obesity, and to teach children about eating nutritious foods instead of "junk foods".
So now we are adding Character education. It is interesting to me as a psychologist that we tend to think of character as something we learn only as a child, and that we "get it from our parents or we don't". Character programs teach children about such things as respect, responsibility, courage, honesty, and determination. I would offer that if you are alive and breathing you are still working on all of these. How many adults still could stand to improve on being more honest? How many of us adults need to be more courageous? How many of us adults need to take responsibility for whatever upsets us? So my point is, as a mental health professional, I will tell you that we are all CONSTANTLY called to work on our character. We are constantly challenged to be more honest, respectful of ourselves and others and more determined to live and stand in our integrity. If you are breathing, you have something in your character that can be improved.

But when did you ever have the opportunity to really learn about these things?

You learned from your parents. So that would mean they could not teach you more than they knew. So what if they weren't real great in this area? So what if there is more information available in this subject NOW than when your parents were young and learned it? I would hate to think that all my daughter will ever know about algebra is what I happen to know about algebra and am able to pass on. Why do we hold this area of knowledge so separate than reading and writing?

Psychology, human development, life skills, character education, whatever you want to call it is a body of information. Why do we act so weird about who teaches it?

I and those in my profession earn lots of money and spend many hours teaching people to have basic skills of responsibility, determination, honesty, courage, boundaries, self respect, etc. Unfortunaltey most people cannot afford to come see someone like me to learn these things.

I support human beings being exposed to and learning these skills as early as possible. They are as important as knowing how to read. They are skills that enable you to put a life together.

You can teach what respect, honesty, courage and those fine traits are. Children also learn by example from the people they are around: at home, in school, in church, in scouts. You can teach this all you want but whether a child or and adults chooses to have character, that is truly up to that individual. It comes from within.

I have seen the Peacemaker Program work wonders in 2nd graders who took pride in being what they thought were grade qualities to have to function in society. Whether some kids get it or not is up to them.

Unlike reading, algebra, and dental hygiene which can certainly be taught and a even tested, and some will learn, some will not.....You can teach dental hygiene but it doesn't mean your kid will brush his teeth and floss several times a day.

No offense Terrina but in answer to your question as to "why do we care who teaches character education or our kids".

Guiford County's current policy is they can hire convicted felons. The policy is in writing and they have hired convicted felons in the past. Now I don't think I would want a convicted felon teaching my kid character education.

There are teachers that are verbally abusive to kids and scream at them. I don't think that shows much character.

Also there are teachers who cheat on their spouses, for example, so Idon't think they should be talking about character education either.

It is a good concept in theory but it is not like something you teach from a textbook. It is a learned behavior and there is so much that influences a child's environment on a daily basis: TV, videos; movies; violent video games; bad role models they see as "heros"....All these things play a part in molding a child's development and character. It is a constant struggle to teach kid's what is right in today's world.

I agree with Barbara Ann. "Who" teaches character education is very important.

Ms. Picarillo says "I and those in my profession earn lots of money and spend many hours teaching people to have basic skills of responsibility, determination, honesty, courage, boundaries, self respect, etc."

Well, who would pay Ms. Picarillo to help them with one of these issues if, from past experience, they thought she lacked the trait herself?

This is why some may question the panelists chosen for the character education forum.

Very interesting observation, Susan. My point exactly. I had just originally skimmed Terrina's first post and missed the paragraph regarding people paying money to have someone "teach" them basic skills of responsbility, determination, etc.

Just like kids, some may get it, some may not. People are who the are.

If all the counseling always worked people wouldn't spend years in therapy at times or have to be on certain drugs to help them "learn" positive traits to help them function in society.

Years ago, I worked for several years at a Family Psychiatric practice in Virginia. The psychiatrict social worker at the practice was a very nice person, had a Masters from Smith, was highly intelligent, but she was a closet alcoholic. One day a patient said, "I'm not seeing her anymore, she can't even handle her own problems so how can she help me?" The patient reported her drinking on the job to the M.D. owner and the social worker was fired. She continued to practice some out of her home and eventually died of liver failure.

Point to this story, who is teaching character education is important. Children learn so much by example.

You can teach qualities, traits but will children have them? You can teach all the nutrition you want in school too, and have balanced school menus. But if the parents let them just eat junk food at home, if the parents aren't educated about nutrition or don't really care, if the school cafeteria menu is balanced but the kid still only grabs the cookie because that is what he likes, you haven't changed a thing.

I am not saying don't teach these traits and qualities in school which are very positive things. I am just saying it may help some but there are so many other influences in their life that affect them more and may overpower just telling kids "these are good things to have".

Having worked in the schools for 5 years, I can just go by what I see happens on a daily basis.

Barbara Ann,

That's a good point. How much can character education overcome what kids learn outside of school? Can it make a difference when kids come from troubled homes? I don't know.

But character education advocates think so. Here's a quote from Michael Josephson, president and founder of the Character Counts! Coalition: "The greatest obstacle is for people to pooh-pooh this and say, 'You either have got it or you don't. If you didn't get it from your parents, it's too late. That's rubbish!"

Bruce,

I am not saying it can't work in some cases. I like that Character Education it is introduced in elementary schools. I have seen the Peacemaker Program help a behavioral problem kid "work it out" instead of pushing and shoving.

I am also for D.A.R.E. in 5th grade which many schools have lost. But statistics have not shown that this early Drug Prevention Education Program really makes a difference when kids get to middle and high school.

I am all for "keep trying" positive programs even if it helps only a few. If we quit, we give up hope. A quote I have heard is "You can give it up (hope) but it cannot be taken away from you."

I am just saying that in today's society, it is a constant struggle because there are so many negative influences out there in our world of technology. Kids learn from media at such an early age.

In homes today, most have both parents working; kids are put in day care as babies; the traditional family is disappearing in our society. Families live far from the support of grandparents/relatives. We stay in touch with our kids via cell phones in between one activity after the other. It is just a much faster and complicated world today. It is harder to keep kids grounded and instill traditional values.

Not saying it is impossible, just very hard because of all the outside influences out there.

Studies have shown that the most important factor for a child to succeed in school is parental involvement. That has not changed.

I agree with many things that Barbara Ann and Terrina said. They are not mutually exclusive. In my opinion, many children are not getting the positive role models for character ed at home. Reasons are as many and varied as the population: two working families with little or no supervision at home, disrespect for our government leads to disrespect for all authority, babies (young moms) raising babies, parents having low self-esteem, etc.

Do I think it's ideal to expect schools to teach charc ed? No. Do I think its necessary, absolutely! But along with those lessons we need to address consequences of improper behavior.

Children and adults make choices; both good and bad. You get rewarded/or reprimanded depending on your actions. As an adult, if you drive over the speed limit, you might get a ticket--- costs money, raised insurance cost, day off of work to go to court etc. Does that mean no one speeds. Of course not, but if caught you have a conseqence. If you choose not to show up for work repeatedly-- you lose your job. As a student, there has to be rules and consequences (and I don't mean 'off team suspension'--what a joke) Lets do our best as reasonable, responsible adults to show our children the correct way to treat everyone, the way to make good decisions; but we must also show them that if they chose not to make good choices, that there will be consequences.

If we really could help everyone make great choices then society as a whole would be better off.

Debora,

Well said!

Dear Bruce,

Your quote by Josephson is my point exactly. Character is a learned behavior. You can be exposed at home and have it reinforced at school, or you can be missing this at home, and have an opportunity to be exposed at school. We should at least offer this essential part of learning to be competent and successful in life at school, just as we teach reading and math.

If, as Barbara Ann suggested, the teachers are lacking in character, this is another reason to have character education a part of the fabric of the curriculum and the environment at school. If these teachers were not exposed at school or at home, there is always another opportunity for them to get it too.

Terrina,

I am all for anything positive in our schools to teach our kids but I really do think that if a 50 year old teacher does not have "character" by then, she is not going to somehow have an "epiphany" and GET IT.