Feb 03, 2020

In the News: Financial Education in High Schools

Wording in financial literacy bill allows for unwanted leeway (The News Enterprise): 

Alex Todd, financial literacy teacher at Eliza­beth­town High School, has been fighting for financial literacy in Kentucky for years. He said he was unaware of the how the inclusion of the word “program” affects the bill until last summer....“Nothing is going to be accomplished in a 30 minute or an hour long curriculum,” Todd said. “The state of Kentucky either has to decide if financial literacy is important or is it not important.”

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Personal Finance Class Now Required for Graduation from Perkins County Schools (Grant Tribune Sentinel)

Perkins County Schools’ (NE) Personal Finance teacher, Renee Seiler, said the class was really pushed during the meeting, and everyone thought it would be a good class for students. “Personal Finance is a life skill,” said Seiler, “It is definitely something they are going to have to deal with for the rest of their lives, so it is really important that they understand how money works and how it can work for them.” 

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Mount Vernon High School to require personal finance course for graduation (Tri-State Homepage)

Starting next school year, incoming freshmen at Mount Vernon High School (IN) will be required to take a personal finance course before they graduate. The course is currently offered as an elective, but it will be mandatory for all students. The class will teach students about banking, credit, risk management, investing, credit history, and credit reports.

Jim Hatfield, a teacher at Mount Vernon, said the class has got a lot of response back from the community.

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SC Treasurers Office announced new statewide financial literacy initiative (News2)

South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis announced a new statewide financial literacy initiative. The goal is to energize and increase the number of South Carolina teachers offering personal finance education in their classrooms.

The South Carolina Financial Literacy Master Teacher Program provides financial incentives to K-12 teachers who are experts in financial literacy and want to teach professional development workshops to other educators in their schools and districts.

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7 subjects that should be taught in U.S. schools (Big Think):

"Most Americans aren't fluent in the language of money," writes Tara Siegel Bernard, a New York Times personal finance reporter. "Yet we're expected to make big financial decisions as early as our teens — Should I take on thousands of dollars of student debt? Should I buy a car? — even though most of us received no formal instruction on financial matters until it was too late."

 

 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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