By Sora Wondra
CEP is currently performing research on character education legislation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Some states specifically mandate character education, others encourage it, and still other states may support character education initiatives without directly referring to it in legislative documents. This research was collected several years ago, but as issues of school climate and anti-bullying have influenced recent education legislation, it is necessary to investigate legislation enacted over the past couple years. CEP hopes that this information can become a tool for schools and families interested in character education policy in their state.
So far CEP has found many new anti-bullying programs and mandates, some with additional funding allocated, and several exciting new programs like Washington state’s “Compassionate Schools” initiative, providing teacher training to support students who have experienced trauma (http://www.k12.wa.us/CompassionateSchools/default.aspx). We are still collecting information on updated legislation for several states, and in particular would like information on recent legislation in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Idaho, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming. If you have information on recent character education legislation or programs in your state, please contact mjones@character.org.
