WASHINGTON (AP) — More states arerequiring students to learn about managing money, but personal finance remainsa fringe topic in schools and a major source of federal concern.
Seven states mandate that studentstake a course about basic finances to graduate high school, according to 2004survey results released Thursday by the private National Council on EconomicEducation. That’s up from 2002, when just four states required such courses.
In the standards they set for schools,most states say they want money matters to be taught — 38 states include theideas of saving, investing, risk management and other finance themes in theirstandards or guidelines, an increase from 31 states two years earlier. But thesurvey found many states don’t enforce the standards, let alone require entirecourses.
“There is more good economic andfinancial education being offered in schools than ever,” said Robert Duvall,president of the national council, which released its findings during an economicliteracy summit. “But as a subject area, it continues to be marginalized as anadd-on in an already crowded curriculum. We need to keep pushing to make itpart of the core.”
Poor understanding of personalfinance can cause more than a sloppy checkbook. As young people rack up creditdebt or fail to save money, they can later find themselves with bankruptcies,home foreclosures and financial stresses that divide families, experts say.
