O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-145 (2019)

Comprehensive character education program

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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(a) The State Board of Education shall develop by the start of the 1997-1998 school year a comprehensive character education program for levels K-12. This comprehensive character education program shall be known as the “character curriculum” and shall focus on the students’ development of the following character traits: courage, patriotism, citizenship, honesty, fairness, respect for others, kindness, cooperation, self-respect, self-control, courtesy, compassion, tolerance, diligence, generosity, punctuality, cleanliness, cheerfulness, school pride, respect for the environment, respect for the creator, patience, creativity, sportsmanship, loyalty, perseverance, and virtue. Such program shall also address, by the start of the 1999-2000 school year, methods of discouraging bullying and violent acts against fellow students. Local boards shall implement such a program in all grade levels at the beginning of the 2000-2001 school year and shall provide opportunities for parental involvement in establishing expected outcomes of the character education program.

(b) The Department of Education shall develop character education program workshops designed for employees of local school systems.

History

Code 1981, § 20-2-145, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 1386, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 362, § 2; Ga. L. 1999, p. 438, § 2.

Annotations

Cross references. Designation of official center for character education, § 50-3-79. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 1997, p. 1386, § 1.1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides for severability. Ga. L. 1999, p. 438, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Improved Student Learning Environment and Discipline Act of 1999.’”

Administrative rules and regulations. Values and character education, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Department of Education, Division of General Instruction, Sec. 160-4-2-.33. Law reviews. For note on 1999 amendment to this Code section, see 16 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 116 (1999). For article, “Bullying in Public Schools: The Intersection Between the Student’s Free Speech Rights and the School’s Duty to Protect,” see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 407 (2011).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Constitutionality. - The “respect for the creator” portion of the character education program authorized by O.C.G.A. § 20-2-145 does not violate the separation

of church and state provisions of either the state or federal constitution. 2000 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 2000-9.