April is National Financial Literacy Month, highlighting the importance of financial education. In California, new legislation, AB 2927, mandates a semester-long financial literacy course as a requirement for high school graduation.
Investopedia defines financial literacy as the “ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting, and investing.”
California’s AB 2927 requires financial literacy to be a stand-alone course, not combined with other subjects. This law is expected to take effect for students graduating in the 2030-31 school year.
The Del Mar curriculum already includes a semester-long economics class for sophomores, which features a 4-6 week unit on financial literacy. This unit covers topics such as savings, checking accounts and how stock markets work.
Cesar Cardenas, a social studies and economics teacher, emphasized the importance of financial education for adolescents. He noted that after high school, students will face various financial situations, like managing expenses for school, transportation, or phone bills. He stressed the need for schools to prepare students for these real-life financial responsibilities.
However, “that’s not really in our curriculum, mainly because teachers teach by standards,” said Cardenas.
When asked about California’s new law, AB 2927, he said, “I know that it’s in the early works, and I’m really curious to know if it does get passed. What kind of standards that we would be expected to teach?”
Robert Heim, another social studies and economics teacher, said as far as he has heard, he finds it “great,” despite having some worries.
“I’m a little bit kind of ambivalent about just having a personal finance unit, because then I think students are then missing out on the other aspects of economics curriculum, because there’s also just not enough time to do a semester,” said Heim.
AB 2927 is accompanied by several other states that have passed similar legislation to combat the epidemic of financial illiteracy in this country.
