SRC-AMY H.C.R. 73 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.C.R. 73
78R11656 JLZ-FBy: Griggs (Nelson)
Education
5/13/2003
Engrossed


DIGEST

Bombarded with media images and messages that seem to glorify
irresponsible and destructive behavior and that elevate figures in the
sports and entertainment industries to celebrity status irrespective of
their personal behavior, a growing number of Americans are becoming
increasingly troubled about the state of the union and the character of
America's youth.  Concerns about children in today's society are
compounded by highly publicized accounts of violence in our schools, high
levels of drug use and promiscuity, and the increasing inability of many
young people to fulfill their responsibilities as students.  Although
these behaviors and the selfdestructive attitudes that engender them
frequently manifest themselves in the classroom and create problems for
teachers, school administrators, and other students, they also are
awakening a conviction within the education community and among parents,
policy makers, and other concerned citizens that our public schools have
an important role to play, along with family, religion, and the larger
community, in helping children develop good consciences and ethical
behavior.  While the primary responsibility for instilling character in
our nation's youth rests with each child's parents, our schools can play a
pivotal role in reinforcing the values being taught in the home through a
curriculum that treats the development of personal character traits as a
matter equally as important as academic achievement.  The public school
system's role as a force in society to promulgate the fundamental values
and beliefs on which this nation was founded becomes more important at a
time when changes in family structures and the pressures of the modern age
leave many parents, whether busy with work or absent altogether, unable to
impart those values and beliefs that once were vital components of family
life.  Numerous school districts, both within the state and across the
nation, have either implemented character education programs or
successfully incorporated a virtues program into their daily curricula for
students in kindergarten through 12th grade.  Often developed as a joint
project involving faith-based communities, parent-teacher organizations,
public school administrators and teachers, the local business community,
students, and elected school officials, virtues education programs focus
the attention of schoolchildren on those character traits of prominent
past and present individuals that display the virtues society most highly
prizes.  By stressing the fundamental importance of values that all can
agree are worth emulating, virtues education programs can help solve
problems such as student violence, teenage pregnancies, and substance
abuse; help raise levels of academic performance; and restore hope in the
future of society.  Some examples of virtues that many individuals
consider appropriate include attentiveness, availability, citizenship,
compassion, confidence, contentment, courage, dependability, diligence,
discretion, efficiency, encouragement, enthusiasm, fairness, faith,
forgiveness, friendliness, generosity, gentleness, gratitude, honesty,
humility, initiative, joy, kindness, obedience, optimism, patience, peace,
perseverance, purity, respect, responsibility, reverence, self-control,
thoughtfulness, and wisdom. 

PURPOSE

H.C.R. 73 submits the following resolutions:

That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby direct the Texas
Education Agency and the State Board of Education (SBOE) to adopt and
promote a virtues education program and to provide school districts with
materials and support to assist in the program's implementation.  That the
virtues education program include age-appropriate curricula and
educational material and be structured to provide instruction beginning in
kindergarten and continuing through 12th grade. That the Texas secretary
of state forward official copies of this resolution to the commissioner of
education and to the SBOE chair.