In the 1970's moral education was excluded from the curriculum in public schools because the general belief was that religion is necessary to teach morality.  The schools' response was due to the fact that it did not want to violate the First Amendment of the Constitution (Nucci 22).

Schools also turned to values-clarification programs, which help people clarify what is important to them, and what purpose their lives will take.

In the 1980's and 1990's, people who believed that morality cannot be taught without religion saw the elimination of bible studies and prayer in school saw the schools avoiding teaching morality as undermining their children.  Some children in the United States were taken out of the public school system and placed into private schools.

Today moral education in the public school is either in a "hidden curriculum" or is in character education