[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3984 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3984

     To establish a National Clearinghouse for Character Education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2000

   Mr. Franks of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish a National Clearinghouse for Character Education.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Commitment to Kids and Character 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) It is vitally important for school systems to ensure 
        that their students understand, care about, and act upon 
        ethical values, such as honesty, fairness, responsibility, and 
        respect for self and others.
            (2) Schools adopting intentional comprehensive approaches 
        to character education are developing moral and ethical values 
        in their students and promoting a more compassionate and 
        responsible society. Students are less prone to violence and 
        substance abuse, and are more community minded, and often more 
        committed and successful academically when character education 
        programs have been implemented.
            (3) An increasing number of schools, districts, and States 
        are taking steps to incorporate character education into their 
        classrooms and school cultures. They need information on best 
        practices, effective curricula, quality programs, criteria for 
        assessing programs, and cost-effective opportunities to network 
        nationally with each other, especially through electronic 
        means.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.

    (a) Grant.--The Secretary is authorized to provide a grant to an 
organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such 
Code (referred to in this Act as the ``Organization'') which has--
            (1) demonstrated expertise on a National level in providing 
        comprehensive and objective information services and assistance 
        regarding character education policies, programs, models of 
        curricula, research and assessment;
            (2) a membership representative of individuals and groups 
        committed to providing character education; and
            (3) demonstrated a commitment to furthering the 
        implementation of quality practices in the implementation of 
        character education programs.
    (b) Establishment of Center.--The Organization shall establish and 
support the operation of a National Clearinghouse for Character 
Education (referred to in this Act as the ``Clearinghouse'') to 
synthesize and disseminate information about character education and 
related programs. The Organization, through the Clearinghouse, shall 
develop programs that incorporate the following elements of character:
            (1) Caring.
            (2) Civic virtue and citizenship.
            (3) Justice and fairness.
            (4) Respect.
            (5) Responsibility.
            (6) Honesty.
            (7) Any other elements considered appropriate by the 
        Organization.

SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS.

    The Organization, through the Clearinghouse, shall--
            (1) develop a searchable database that contains background 
        and contact information on the leading character education 
        groups, curricula, books, programs, and videos;
            (2) make available information on best practices;
            (3) make available models of professional development in 
        character education;
            (4) make available research findings on the effectiveness 
        of various approaches and programs;
            (5) make available information on available assessment 
        tools and instruments;
            (6) make available information on leading character 
        education groups nationally and the services they provide;
            (7) collect and make available information regarding how 
        character education can be integrated into State and national 
        content and performance standards for the various academic 
        subjects and incorporated in other educational reform efforts;
            (8) make available a checklist of criteria for users to 
        assess the appropriateness of particular character education 
        curricula to their needs;
            (9) provide a network of State sponsored websites on 
        character education;
            (10) make available any other information that may be 
        helpful to character educators in implementing programs; and
            (11) provide telephone assistance and a toll-free access 
        number.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    The Organization shall submit to the Secretary an annual report 
that--
            (1) specifies the number of people who request information 
        from the Clearinghouse and the types of information requested; 
        and
            (2) identifies unmet and future information needs in the 
        field of character education.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$500,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as may be necessary for 
each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
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