"Thank you for inviting me to meet with you today.  For 35 years, I was a teacher and coach at New London-Spicer Schools, mostly seventh grade.  Thirty-five years in seventh grade and I finally graduated to the legislature.

"I serve on the Education Policy Committee.  I have struggled as a teacher and a legislator with how best to reach students, how best to impart the knowledge and values that will enable them to be successful in their personal lives and successful in society.

"Each day I entered my classroom and asked, 'What are you here for?' and my students would answer, 'To learn!'  But learning doesn’t come in just textbooks.  We see common examples of people who fail.  The rate of teen sex continues to rise in Minnesota.  We need to be concerned about drugs, teen suicide, let alone passing the statewide assessments.

"I believe that a valuable component in helping students to meet these challenges and succeed should be character education.

"Dr. David Walsh has been closely identified with character education and I will paraphrase some of his thoughts and comments: We live in a culture that promotes four values:  more, easy, fast, and fun.  The problem is that this leads to an epidemic called Discipline Deficit Disorder.  This erodes self-discipline.  It is important to know that self-discipline is twice the indicator of academic success as intelligence.

"Students must be disciplined enough to have goals.  When gaining a goal is desired, it likely will be achieved.  When the goal is passing a test to obtain a driver’s license, students who are doing abysmally in other classes manage to pass their driver’s test.  Why?  Because the goal is greater than any distraction.

"The traits of Discipline Deficit Disorder are inability to delay gratification, the culture of disrespect, impatience, self-centeredness and rampant consumerism.  I’ve seen them all in my classroom.

"This is also what character education should address.  Character education can be the key to success and happiness in life and school.  It can help to develop essential core traits like patience, respect, putting other people’s needs on par with your own, persistence and determination.  Character education leads to success in school and success in life.

"The adolescent brain is still growing.  Neurons are still connecting.  Genetics and experience will determine how they get wired.

"The experiences can be influenced by character education in schools, but of course, not just there.  Parents need an active role in this.  Frankly, there is truth to the axiom that the experiences gained through the community shape the child.  I want programs that involve parents.

"It is our challenge to see that the character-changing experiences that our children have are positive ones.  As a state representative, I have been, and will continue to be, an advocate for character education.  I plan to double my efforts in the coming session.

"I have sponsored and obtained funding for character education programs.  Currently, the framework exists but there is no money in it.  I will seek funding, but the deficit will be a challenge.  I will redouble my efforts to bring this forward.  The challenge is great and the result is greater and it is essential to our future."