Others are concerned about the separation of church and state and believe any attempts to teach values or morality will introduce religion into the classroom. As a consequence, there has been a long-standing debate between those who want the public schools to focus primarily on the teaching of academics and those who have argued that education must do more than teach subject matter content or skill development. Although concerns may arise regarding which values to teach, the debate may be far less controversial than some would believe. Only two-thirds of respondents thought this goal was possible. But the fact is that there are lots of values we all share.
Nobody argues that discrimination is morally appropriate.
A lot of people, unfortunately, engage in it. Nobody argues that lying is better than truth-telling. So let's be up front about that and have explicit curriculum. If we don't, we are going to teach values only in hidden and most devious ways. Practical Concerns Even though educators and parents may agree that there is a need to teach ethics and character, there are practical concerns that must be addressed.