HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 91-4714, by Representatives Basich, Brumsickle, Dorn, Wineberry, Peery, Leonard, McLean, Holland, Rasmussen, Cole, Franklin, Ebersole, Neher, Anderson, Appelwick, Ballard, Beck, Belcher, Betrozoff, Bowman, Braddock, Bray, Brekke, Broback, Brough, Cantwell, Casada, Chandler, Cooper, Day, Dellwo, Edmondson, Ferguson, G. Fisher, R. Fisher, Forner, Fraser, Fuhrman, Grant, Hargrove, Haugen, Heavey, Hine, Hochstatter, Horn, Inslee, Jacobsen, P. Johnson, R. Johnson, Jones, J. King, R. King, Kremen, Lisk, Locke, Ludwig, May, R. Meyers, Mielke, Miller, Mitchell, Morris, Morton, Moyer, H. Myers, Nealey, Nelson, O'Brien, Ogden, Orr, Padden, Paris, Phillips, Prentice, Prince, Pruitt, Rayburn, Riley, Roland, Rust, Schmidt, Scott, Sheldon, Silver, D. Sommers, H. Sommers, Spanel, Sprenkle, Tate, Valle, Vance, Van Luven, Wang, Wilson, Winsley, Wood, Wynne and Zellinsky

       WHEREAS, The House of Representatives finds that the lack of self-esteem is central to most personal and social issues plaguing our state and that self-esteem is the likeliest candidate for a social vaccine, something that empowers our citizens to live responsibly and inoculates our citizens against crime, violence, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, child abuse, chronic welfare dependency, and educational failure; and

       WHEREAS, The House of Representatives adopts the following definition of self-esteem:  Appreciating my own worth and importance and having the character to be accountable for myself and to act responsibly toward others; and

       WHEREAS, Self-esteem is a causal factor in educational failure and that failure to learn can be catastrophic for the individual and staggering in its costs to society; and

       WHEREAS, Families are the most crucial ingredient in nurturing the sense of self-esteem and schools are second only to families in nurturing the self-esteem necessary for personal and academic success; and

       WHEREAS, Teachers are central figures in the lives of their students and prospective teachers should receive training regarding self-esteem both in teacher training programs in colleges and universities and as part of ongoing staff development;

       NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives of the State of Washington,  That every school district and every institution of higher education in Washington are strongly encouraged to adopt the promotion of self-esteem and personal and social responsibility as a clearly stated goal, integrate self-esteem in their total curriculum, and inform all persons of their policies and operations; that school boards and the administration in the schools and institutions of higher education are strongly encouraged to establish policies and procedures that value staff members and students and serve to foster mutual respect, esteem, and cooperation; and that schools and school districts are strongly encouraged to derive school goals  through consensus rather than impose them by administrative edict and to develop rules and disciplinary procedures in a collaborative manner among the administrators, teachers, parents, and students; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education are strongly encouraged to require course work in self-esteem for credentials and as a part of ongoing in-service training for all educators, including at least one course in the nature and development of self-esteem in one's self and in one's students as a requirement for credentials in teaching, counseling, or administration and for maintaining those credentials; and that school districts are strongly encouraged to develop and expand training in the development of self-esteem and personal and social responsibility as part of their ongoing staff development; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That school districts and institutions of higher education are strongly encouraged to support and expand programs to enhance the self-esteem, character development, and academic success of all students, with special emphasis on those in greatest jeopardy of academic failure; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That school districts are strongly encouraged to develop a real-life skills curriculum to include self-esteem and personal responsibility components, which curriculum shall provide instruction in basic living skills, such as developing and maintaining good character, positive self-esteem, conflict resolution, effective communication, goal setting and goal achievement, time and money management, creative problem-solving, leadership, stress management, and decision making, as well as basic values, such as responsibility, honesty, integrity, self-discipline, equity, and cooperation.  School districts are strongly encouraged to make every effort as part of the real-life skills curriculum to promote respect for parental decision making regarding basic living skills and values of their children and to avoid interference with parental decision making in these areas by the school districts.  School districts are strongly encouraged to convene a broadly representative group to develop this real-life skills curriculum, including university professors, curriculum development specialists, local high school district personnel, community and business leaders, students, and parents; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That school districts are strongly encouraged to foster family-school partnerships to engage the support and involvement of parents in their children's education; that such a partnership should enlist parental input in school programs, procedures, and curriculum development and to assist teachers in the classroom and should help parents learn skills necessary to improve their children's academic achievement and sense of self-esteem and responsibility; and that the parent-school partnership should allow and encourage participation on the part of working parents as well as homemakers, fathers as well as mothers, and step-parents and other caretakers; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That school districts are strongly encouraged to strive to reduce class sizes and in the meantime to use techniques that allow for more individualized attention despite large class sizes; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That school districts are strongly encouraged to enhance growth in self-esteem by developing, supporting, and expanding peer counseling training programs for middle-level and senior high school students; and 

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That school districts are strongly encouraged to promote arts programs that stress creative growth as a means of strengthening students' self-esteem and responsibility; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That schools and school districts are strongly encouraged to offer opportunities for students of all ages to do community service work programs; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That school districts and institutions of higher education are strongly encouraged to institute effective programs for staff and students to ensure equality of treatment and opportunity for all and to teach and practice the principles of compassion, caring, and understanding, as well as responsible character development as part of their efforts to promote personal and social responsibility; and

       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives to the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education, the Washington state school directors' association, the Washington association of school administrators, the Washington education association, the association of Washington school principals, the Washington state parent-teacher association, the higher education coordinating board, the state board for community colleges, the presidents of all state and private institutions of higher education in this state, the Washington State University and the University of Washington student lobby directors and associated student body presidents, the director of each equal opportunity program at each institution of higher education in this state, and each counseling center at each institution of higher education in this state.

                   I hereby certify this to be a true and correct copy of

                   Resolution 4714 adopted by the House of Representatives

                                       June 28, 1991.

                               ________________________________

                     Alan Thompson, Chief Clerk, House of Representatives