Values Education and the Local School Board

The premise of this article is that there is no such thing as a value free education; that values appear in each public school's goals, curriculum, and activities as well as in the requirements set by the state. And it is the local school board that defines the goals and adopts the policies that reflect the values each community wants to transmit to its children. In order to accomplish this, boards might consider certain crucial questions, namely: which values are to be taught? How should those values be taught? and Who determines the community's common values? Various ramifications of these questions are noted, after which the paper goes on to outline an action plan for developing values education in local schools and to highlight strategies for conducting a public forum and developing a long-term program. Findings of a survey that examined almost 9,000 young people's ethical attitudes and behaviors are presented immediately following this article. The findings of this and other studies indicate that young people are becoming more maternalistic and less ethical, and it is left up to the reader to decide if values education is needed in the schools. (LMI)