- Should financial literacy be a graduation requirement?
- 74% of New York teachers think it is a good idea based on this survey of New York teachers
- CBS MoneyWatch provides details on the financial literacy curriculum for NJ students:
"New Jersey’s revised curriculum makes personal finance a separate
standard, requiring instruction in several areas, including income,
credit and debt, financial planning, saving and investing. It also sets
clear markers for proficiency at grade levels. For example, by the end
of fourth grade, students should be able to explain the difference
between debits and credits and understand the consequences of each. By
eighth grade, students should be constructing a short and long-term
personal budget. And by 12th grade, students should develop
a long-term financial plan. New Jersey also joins New York in requiring
completion of a half-year course in financial literacy for high-school
graduation, beginning with freshmen who entered high school in 2009."
- A financial literacy expert highlights the importance of opening a savings account at a young age (I think I was six when my I opened my first account):
"Finance Professor Lewis Mandell, an expert on financial literacy at the University of Washington,
strongly endorsed school-based programs that encourage savings at an
early age. "My first bank account was opened for me in my elementary
school in New York City. Ownership of
my own account and my own money helped me establish a savings habit
that has stayed with me my entire life. Every youngster should be given
this opportunity."
- My Money, My Life curriculum taught to over 1,000 adults 16-19 from Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Each graduate receives $100 to build up a savings account::
"Robinson is one of 1,000 graduates of "My Money My Life," a free,
after-school program designed to teach low-income 16- to 19-year-olds
the basics of managing their money, said Courtney George, education
coordinator for NeighborWorks, a nonprofit in Uptown that administers
the program.
The program, founded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh in
2004 and supported by seven banks in the region, reached its five-year
goal of serving 1,000 students and has received a new lease on a
year-to-year basis."
- Connecticut state colleges investing in financial literacy programs, according to the Hartford Courant:
"Program initiatives at Central, Eastern, Southern
and Western Connecticut State Universities have been developed as
students face increasing challenges from a rapidly changing credit card
industry and the dangers inherent in accumulating excessive debt, as
well as the need to better understand financial transactions ranging
from car purchases to investments."
- USA Today reports on increased interest in financial literacy programs:
"The number of states requiring public high
schools to offer a personal finance course rose from nine to 15 between
2007 and 2009, according to the Council for Economic Education.
Thirteen states require a personal finance course for graduation, up
from seven in 2007. Many schools elsewhere offer or require such
courses. The U.S. Treasury Department also recently announced a national award program to encourage financial education in schools.
"The students are hungry for this information," said John Parfrey, director of the National Endowment for Financial Education's high school program. "They see what is going on in their own home."
Comments