The General Assembly recognizes that public education involves shared responsibilities. State government, local communities, parents, students, and school employees must work together to create an efficient public school system to achieve excellence in education. Parents and students must assist schools with efforts to assure student attendance, preparation for school, and involvement in learning. The cooperation of all involved is necessary to assure that desired outcomes are achieved. It is the intent of the General Assembly to create a system of public education which shall allow and assist all students to acquire the following capacities:
(1) Literacy, including communication skills necessary to function in a complex and changing world;
(2) Knowledge to make wise economic, social, career, and political choices;
(3) Core values and qualities of good character to make moral and ethical decisions throughout life;
(4) Understanding of our constitutional republic, the three (3) branches of government, and how government impacts citizens, the community, the state, and the nation;
(5) Sufficient self-knowledge and knowledge of the student's own mental and physical wellness;
(6) Sufficient grounding in the arts to enable each student to appreciate the student's own cultural and historical heritage;
(7) Sufficient preparation to choose and pursue the student's life's work intelligently; and (8) Skills to enable each student to compete competitively with students in other states.