public education. The first of these is the views of former Secretary of Education William Bennett, who supported character education as vital for individual and social development in many of his writings. The second influence came in the form of two groups of national character – the Character Counts Coalition and the Character Education partnership. The third and fourth influence in support of character education both called the White House home, Presidents William J. Clinton and George W. Bush. In former President Clinton’s 1996 State of the Union address, the President “urged schools to teach citizenship, values, and character education” (Aldridge, 2000, 334).
President Bush also supports character education and is in favor of religious values as part of a total education. On January 8, 2002, P
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