When Gene Bedley retired as principal of El Camino Real School in 1995, the award-winning educator looked forward to spending more time with his five grandchildren.

“I really wasn’t about to get into another career,” he said, sitting in the well-appointed living room of the Rancho Santa Margarita house that he and his wife, Sally, moved into after leaving Irvine a few years ago. But then he came across Bob Buford’s “Halftime,” a book that inspired him to found the National Character Education Center.

Last week, the Irvine City Council recognized Bedley’s ongoing work through the center, which promotes ethical values in schools throughout the world.

“The city of Irvine does hereby commend Gene Bedley for his leadership in teaching virtues and recognizes him for his contribution to the families of Irvine,” the city proclamation read.

But Bedley, 60, is still concerned about the future of the Irvine Unified School District, which is facing drastic budget cuts to offset a $4-million deficit.

“I appreciate [the city’s] award,” said Bedley, whose son Scott teaches at PlazaVista School. “But what’s more important is that the city helps keep schools together. I think we’re at a crossroads in Irvine. We’ve got to form a new alliance between the Board of Education and the City Council.”

Bedley said he fears that the culture he carefully nurtured in the district for 20 years could be strained by the looming financial disaster. The ideas he began spreading in Irvine schools in 1975 are built on seven core values: positive mental attitude, respect, integrity, compassion, cooperation, perseverance and initiative.

At El Camino Real, sixth-graders would write essays on their elementary school experiences before moving on to middle school. Bedley still meets with former students and asks them whether their education has made a difference in their lives.

“They tell me that the most important thing we left them with is core ethical virtues,” said Bedley, who received National Educator of the Year Awards from the National Parent-Teachers Assn., Rotary Club and Milken Foundation.

“Ultimately, that’s the test of any program — what your students do after they graduate from school.” Bedley said with pride that he is helping former student Stephen Valerie to set up Kids Online America, a San Francisco-based Internet service that will cater to children as well as parents and teachers.

“Here’s a kid we protected in school,” Bedley said. “Now he’s trying to protect all kids in America.”

And the “kid,” now 34, is quick to point out the important role Bedley played in his life.

“Philosophically, Gene is an inspiration to society,” said Valerie, KOLA’s founder and chief executive officer, who recalls that Bedley’s arrival at El Camino replaced corporal punishment with a handshake approach to discipline.

“But when I started up this business and wondered who I should contact, he was the first person I called.”

Bedley now devotes the bulk of his energy to seminars and workshops on character education. About 5,000 schools have adopted his program nationwide. Educators in Singapore also use his books. A contract to train teachers at 50,000 schools in Pakistan was put on hold after the recent military coup, Bedley said.

American children will remain his main audience, Bedley said, adding that legislators in Iowa have asked him to work on a statewide ethics program.

“It would be terrible if I came to the end of my life and would think, ‘Is there anything else I could have done?’ ” he said.

– Mathis Winkler – LA Times