Putting personal finance in classrooms
It's important to learn good personal finance habits early in life. Tess Vigeland talks with Laura Levine of the JumpStart Coalition and New Jersey State Senator Steven Sweeney about programs for teaching those skills to high school students.
Person with pencil and calculator (iStockPhoto)
INTRODUCTION FROM TESS VIGELAND: We're always preaching on the show about starting good personal finance habits early on. Well, several states agree.
Kansas and Virginia are debating bills that would require students to take courses on personal finance. Michigan just passed a bill that allows students to fulfill part of their high school math requirements with a personal finance class.
Here to talk about these efforts are Laura Levine, executive director of the JumpStart Coalition for financial literacy; and Steven Sweeney, a New Jersey state senator who's sponsoring a bill to create a three-year pilot program for high schoolers.
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From Seattle, WA, 02/08/2009
I am listening to your story about young people and credit education, a common story in the news these days. What bothers me about stories like this is that they fail to recognize a major issue in education right now- financial access to education. My family could not assist me with college, I am the first member to go. I had internships, scholarships, TAs, employment, etc. It is simply not enough to meet tuition, fees, rent of some sort, clothes and food, no matter how close to the ground you keep it. Did I overspend a little? Likely. Would I do it again, knowing now the pain of paying it back? In a heartbeat. I understand this is not the norm, but its a common enough sector that we deserve not to be lumped in with this tale of woeful young ignorance. I could not have done what I did without credit- and believe me, I tried. Also, please try to reflect the depth adn breadth when quoting your numbers- I have 24k in credit card debt and 80k in student debt, through a BS from a private school and an MS from a top notch public school. There are thousands of us- about 40% of my friends are in the same boat. It is a very ugly thing at 17years to face the competing values of financial responsibility and access to education. What is worse, I know many kids lack the hoodspa to refuse financial issues as a good reason for them not to go to college.
Perhaps a good story idea for the future.........I would love to hear it.
Thanks
From Caldwell, NJ, 02/08/2009
As the parent of a college student with student loans and credit cards I think putting personal finance in the classroom is an excellent idea. However some responsibility also goes to financial institutions. The idea of giving credit cards to a full time student with a part time job seems to be in the same category as giving a mortgage to someone who does not have any down payment and sufficient income.
From Valpariso, FL, 02/07/2009
I listend to your programs, on NPR for some time. I came to Florida, a while back, because my mother needed help, and then I had a stroke, becoming more of a burden than an aid. Anway, I'm back in touch with your programs.
Thanks for still being here.
From Montclair, NJ, 02/06/2009
Sen. Sweeney is out of touch. I teach personal finance in Paterson, NJ to HS seniors. I started doing it as part of the SRA course several years ago. Missouri has a wonderful curriculum on PF which I have modified to suit my students. Although PF is not required in NJ, I feel it is critical for HS kids to get exposed to it. Even teachers are not aware of PF choices.
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