After California joins, the tally will stand at twenty-six states mandating financial literacy for high school graduation.
California is progressing towards mandating financial literacy education for all its public school students. The proposed plan aims to make it a graduation requirement for high school students to complete a semester-long course in financial literacy. This course would focus on fundamental skills such as interpreting pay stubs, managing bank accounts, responsibly using credit cards, saving for the future, and identifying and avoiding financial scams.
Two strategies are underway to materialize this objective: a November ballot initiative and concurrent state legislation.
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tim Ranzetta is actively supporting the ballot initiative by financing the signature gathering process, aiming to secure its inclusion on the November election ballot.
“The pace at which Californians signed on to this measure, which would guarantee California high school students a personal finance course prior to graduation, is a testament to the popularity of this commonsense ballot proposition,” said Ranzetta, who ran one business that specialized in corporate research and another that provided document shredding services.
At the same time, Assembly member Kevin McCarty, a Democrat from Sacramento, is leading the legislative push. His attention is directed towards the essential aspect of financial literacy for California students, pointing out that many transition to higher education or employment without adequate knowledge in managing personal finances.
“Financial literacy is a necessity for California students,” McCarty said in a statement.
“Most go into college or the workforce without any knowledge of personal finance…. Taking a finance class in high school can help students make smart money decisions that will benefit them throughout their adult life.”
However, not everyone is fully in favor of the initiative. Former Los Angeles school board member David Tokofsky, for example, is worried about adding yet another mandatory class to an already full curriculum. He questions whether it’s wise to enforce curriculum changes through ballot initiatives, suggesting it could limit flexibility in education.
“We already require economics to graduate high school. Now we’re adding pocketbook economics, which is part of the curriculum anyway. It’s a great kind of course for summer school, online and winter session — to entice kids with something different – but putting it in the regular 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. day means biology, English, math or history will suffer,” Tokofsky said.
But there is no shortage of proponents making a strong case for the initiative’s significance. One strong advocate is Crystal Rigley Janis, a teacher at Berkeley High School, who underscores the need for students who feel uncertain about managing their finances.
“They have bad examples at home with money, and they want something different. Or they have good examples at home, and they don’t understand how their parents did it,” Rigley with 15 years of teaching experience explained.
California isn’t alone in acknowledging the significance of early financial education. Momentum is growing nationwide for similar mandates, as more states start requiring financial literacy classes in high school. In fact, California currently ranks poorly in this area, scoring 42.9% and placing 49th, resulting in a failing grade from the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College.
