There Is Hope
Nan J. Morrison, president and CEO of the council, has taken a stand and acknowledges that the Great Recession put a spotlight on the dangers of a financially illiterate society. She affirms that we need to do a better job of helping our policy makers and educators ensure that students nearing adulthood gain an understanding of economic and financial concepts.

The council strives to get course requirements for economics and personal finance into high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, so that all students will have core skills for college and career readiness. To support advocacy efforts at the state and local levels, the council has developed an online “Advocacy Tool Kit.” The kit includes useful information on general advocacy, basic facts about economic and personal finance education in the U.S., ideas for interacting with elected officials, a guide for partnering with other organizations and sample legislation and rules from those states with end-to-end requirements in economics or personal finance.

The council’s lessons from selected publications are now aligned to the Common Core Standards, a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts and literacy. These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do upon completion of each grade. State education chiefs, governors and teachers in 48 states created the guidelines to ensure all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career and life, regardless of where they live.

On June 25, 2013, President Obama also signed an executive order to establish the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans. This council includes the secretary of the Treasury, the secretary of education, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and up to 22 non-governmental members. If you look them up, there’s a great deal of star power there, which makes it clear the administration is serious about tackling the financial education problem.

In order to contribute to the nation’s future financial stability and increase upward economic mobility, it is now the policy of the federal government to promote financial capability among young Americans and encourage building the financial competence of young people at an early stage in schools, families, communities and the workplace.

It’s unfortunate, but there has been much debate about the Common Core Standards, even following the executive order. In more than 40 states, the sole power over the standards is held by elected or appointed state boards of education. These panels meet publicly, but are little known outside professional education circles. In the other states, decision-making authority lies with the state superintendent or commissioner of education, or is shared by a variety of officials or entities, such as the state board, commissioner, the department of education and legislature. In recent news, legislative efforts to shift that authority have drawn some resistance.