I’ve got to say that I can’t wait until April 1st. No, not because it’s April Fool’s Day or because it means the school year is almost ending – but because April is the official financial literacy month. I think financial literacy is so important that I’m going to start celebrating it a little early this year – in February.
In Baltimore, third quarter just started last week. This means that – for the first time – students from 1st grade to 12th grade are finally learning about personal finance in their social studies and government classes. It’s about time that students are learning this material in school, at a young age – so that they are prepared to make important financial decisions as they reach their early teens. This is especially important for students to plan for what they want to do after high school – whether it’s work or college.
This is a huge step for Maryland schools. In 2010, the State Board of Education adopted a state curriculum for personal financial literacy education, and required all school systems to implement a K-12 program of instruction by September 2011. Even more important, Maryland understood that it couldn’t stop with just standards and a curriculum – it won three grants to provide teachers professional development:
- $48,000 from PNC Bank to train teachers on delivering financial literacy instruction
- $25,000 from the Investment Company Institute Education Foundation to develop webinars on teaching savings and investing.
- $75,000 from the federal College Access Challenge Grant Program to support college financial literacy instruction.
The most exciting part is the federal College Access Challenge Grant. Since 2007, this program has provided states matching grants to support efforts to prepare more low-income students to enroll in and succeed in college. In 2010, the program was dramatically expanded when Congress decided to devote $750 million over five years under the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. This has allowed states like Maryland to win an award, which in turn, has led high-poverty cities like Baltimore to benefit.
This can have a powerful effect in Baltimore, where many students might profess the desire to go to college – but not know the costs and risks involved. The College Access Challenge Grant will train guidance counselors, and middle and high school teachers and administrators on how to teach about college loans, debt, federal student aid, and the FAFSA application for financial aid.
But all good things will eventually come to an end. These grants will soon run out, and I hope that teachers will be sufficiently prepared to teach one of the most important life lessons about financial planning. With April coming upon us, I urge the Maryland State Department of Education to continue its commitment to financial literacy, through teaching and assessment - and especially focus on how it will prepare students for their careers and college after high school.
To read more about how Maryland is implementing its personal financial literacy education, read here.
1 comment:
Dear Mary,
I was thrilled to learn from your post all about the efforts being undertaken in Baltimore right now to push financial literacy among teachers and students; by the same token, I was disappointed that your post was my introduction to this effort. I had no idea that our district had won the grants you described to teach financial literacy, and I wonder if this is because training programs are still being developed, or if news of these programs has not yet reached my school. Without a doubt, there is a knowledge gap among students in my school about financial planning—how to make money, create and follow a budget, and save for the future. Even more, though, I see a need in my school’s community among adults, many who themselves lack the knowledge and practice to manage money themselves. Parents and principals alike need this knowledge so that they can create productive homes and schools, and so that they can act as models of financial planning for the students they serve.
Whether or not these grants make their way to Curtis Bay, the far-south city community where I teach, I think there are opportunities to involve parents, students, and school staff in discussions about financial literacy through our school’s budget. This budget represents a chunk of change that all community members have a stake in—it’s money that goes toward funding our students’ educations, our neighborhood’s center, and many families’ futures. Though my school sends flyers home to families inviting them to budget meetings, the reality is that most financial decisions are made behind closed doors, in administrative meetings. Certainly we are missing an opportunity to both educate community members and create a vision for our school in partnership with them. How can we, as a school, take better advantage of budget meetings as teachable moments?
Thanks,
Chloe
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