Senate Bill No. 125

(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 15, 2001; referred to the Committee on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
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A BILL to amend article two, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section thirty- five, relating to character education integration.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section thirty-five, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-35. Character education integration.
(a) Local boards of education shall require that all public schools that operate grade levels from preschool to grade twelve, including kindergarten, develop and integrate character development education in the existing curriculum as it relates to the values of respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship, trustworthiness, justice and fairness and other values as agreed upon by individual school communities.
(b) Any state and local policies should be written to reflect the language in the United States department of education guidelines and the code of West Virginia requiring the promotion of character education within the educational community.
(c) The state board of education and all county boards of education shall promulgate rules which ensure that this program is implemented in a timely and effective manner.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish an integrated and comprehensive approach to the delivery of character education in West Virginia schools across the curriculum in grade levels from preschool to grade twelve, including kindergarten. This proposal uses an approach which integrates curriculum, and maintains the state's current emphasis on increased student learning.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.