Character Education Defined for Schools

As fundamental as teaching students reading, writing and arithmetic is tutoring them to think critically, respect democracy and appreciate other cultures.

Not to mention learning to solve problems, functioning ethically, caring for the environment, having a productive work life and developing a positive self-worth.

That’s what the Simi Valley School Board decided Tuesday night, adopting a character education policy for the 18,896-student district.

“We speak 62 languages in this district,” trustee Debbie Sandland said. Character education “is the glue that holds us all together. These are values that we all believe are important so we can exist civilly.”

Following a growing educational trend nationwide, trustees determined that those eight points of character were part of “providing a rich, meaningful education for all students,” according to the new policy.

Character education complements existing board policies, trustees say, including alcohol, drug and gang prevention, abstinence-based sex education and AIDS prevention, good citizenship, academic honesty and discrimination and harassment protection.

Board President Judy Barry said Simi Valley teachers already informally encourage character development in the classrooms, but that trustees want to codify that training.

Although trustees have signed off on character education, they have not yet decided how to implement the policy in classrooms.