Our schools need to get serious about teaching financial literacy
To the editor:
According to a study, “Financial literacy is low even in advanced economies with well-developed financial markets. On average, about one-third of the global population has familiarity with the basic concepts that underlie everyday financial decisions.” With that understanding, I approached my administration at East Lee County High School about offering Personal Financial Literacy to our students. I felt a special need to deliver this critical information to our children because too often minority communities are channeled into using predatory financial services and denied access to sources of financial skills.
I already have a background as a stockbroker, insurance producer and tax specialist, so I had no difficulty in passing the necessary exam to earn my Business Education certificate. Using my experience, along with some great resources, we now teach our students about:
– Taxes
– Checking
– Saving
– Paying for College
– Types of Credit
– Managing Credit
– Investing
– Insurance
– Budgeting
The response has been great. I hear students actually talking about filing their own tax returns, asking questions about investing and bringing back those rich conversations they are having at home. Recently, I had two students file their taxes in class, and have already received their refunds. Periodically, students who have graduated contact me to tell me how they are doing. They know I am going to ask them about their finances to make sure they are doing the right thing. Along the way, my students are learning about those critical issues that affect the broader economy and society. I emphasize that while they may not be interested in some of those issues, those issues will always impact them.
I know there are students beyond the walls of East Lee who want this kind of curriculum. How do I know? I have actually talked to them. There was a student from Lehigh Senior in particular. From those conversations, a plan to deliver this same content to more students, if they want to access it, was developed. While I wanted to focus on the schools in the east zone, central office administrators thought we should focus on the entire county.
We already have the technology and the resources to teach remotely to students, so why not allow a student at Island Coast or Lehigh Senior to access my class from their home school? I have had many discussions with building principals, central office administrators, board members, individual teachers, and students about this idea, and all of them were excited. By exclusion, one should be able to tell that there is a key and obvious group that refuses to sign off on this idea, and that is unfortunate. Actually, they should be ashamed of themselves.
We are in a space where students are not accessing critical literacies that will affect their futures. Anyone who has studied how education fits into our society thoroughly understands there is more to education than basic courses of mathematics, science, English, social studies, not to mention the ridiculous testing. In addition to financial literacy, there exists digital literacy, communication, collaboration, information literacy, and media literacy. All of those are essential to the development of our students. We also have a population of students at East Lee who want to study French, but we don’t have a French teacher. All the while, Lee County is facing a massive teacher shortage, so hiring teachers for individual schools for specialized disciplines has become a daunting task.
So how do we address these challenges if an important group will not at least consider offering these remote options that include willing teachers, students and schools? What are they afraid of? Why is a nearly all-white executive board denying minority communities access to these essential skills? I am just shaking my head in disgust, and can’t help but wonder.
You know who I am talking to, so the ball is in your court.
Thomas Pound
Cape Coral