Discipline and civility must be restored to America's public schools.

• Author: Wallis, Stephen

Coddling disruptive individuals is a disservice to earnest, hard-working students, faculty, and staff--all of whom must face the resulting intolerable working conditions.

The bad behavior and loss of respect exhibited daily in America's public schools indicate an institution in deep trouble. Problem-plagued school systems and schools with poorly written and poorly enforced policies on behavior typically exhibit an education mission that seems amorphous, allowing an erosion of tradition and sensible expectations over time.

The academic culture has been subverted by a kind of silent chaos. William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education and a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, maintains that education has deteriorated in America because "our schools were systematically, culturally deconstructed. They were taken apart. Many of the things which mattered most in our schools were removed, and they were set adrift." This would include the notion that schools teach behavior that encompasses a moral dimension. Yet, the tolerance of bad behavior indicates that too many school officials have bought into this deculturalization.

Prof. William K. Kilpatrick of Boston College cites a 1993 national study of 1,700 sixth- to ninth-graders that revealed a majority of the boys considered rape "acceptable" under certain conditions. Astoundingly, many of the girls agreed. He goes on to note that there are many reasons for the immorality of these young people, "but none more prominent than a failed system of education that eschews teaching children the traditional moral values that bind Americans together as a society and a culture." He adds that "Teaching right from wrong has as much bearing on a culture's survival as teaching reading, writing, or science."

Some private-sector leaders are trying to reverse these trends. Actor Tom Selleck, former Rep, Barbara Jordan (D.-Tex.), and Michael Josephson, founding head of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, recently the Character Counts Coalition. It is comprised of 27 culturally and polit ically diverse groups claiming to rep resent some 20,000,000 children. Jordan indicates that, "If we are successful, we are going to make character the No. 1 call of young people in this country. They are going to think before they act because they know that if they do the wrong thing, that there are consequences, and they may not like these consequences. Kids now must understand that they are responsible for making sure that young people know what is expected of them."

According to the Josephson Institute, American youth consistently list their parents as primary role models--and teachers second. "This means," Selleck points out, "that parents and teachers have the moral authority to persuade, encourage, and inspire the best in young people."

Some private-sector leaders are seeking structural changes in the school system, in part to address behavioral problems. Corporations are growing frustrated that substantial aid to schools has not produced the desired results. "School improvement? There wasn't any," noted Ferdinand Colloredo Mansfeld, a real estate executive who headed the Boston Compact, a group of companies that provided jobs and scholarships to every Boston high school graduate. Seeing no change in the abysmally poor performance of the city's schools, the Compact resorted to a "get-tough" position in 1989. Businesses began to demand changes, including dispersement of the central bureaucracy, implementation of school choice, and empowerment of teachers and parents.

"The public schools don't work worth a damn," declared Joseph F. Alibrandi, CEO of the Whittaker Corp., Los Angeles, after years of trying to assist schools in the 1980s. "Band-Aids won't work anymore. We need a total...