Our kids know about as little about money as their parents do these days! If we expect this state and country to climb out of the recession, we can't afford not to arm students with the tools to succeed in our complex financial world.

Ditch the weight lifting and aerobics that many seniors take to fill their schedules and include personal finance!

As a relatively recent high school graduate, I see it as critical that my generation and future generations learn at least the basics of personal finance if we are to expect any kind of consistently strong economy in the future. Especially in light of the recession, it is time for the number one school system in the nation to set a national example and make basic financial literacy education a high school graduation requirement.

Thomas Senecal
Former Chair
Maryland Youth Advisory Council

Please let the Comptroller know that the Maryland State Board of Education already adopted regulations that went into effect in September of 2011 to ensure that all students receive financial literacy education in grades three to twelve, not just high school. The local school systems are doing a great job of implementing financial literacy education without any state funding. Besides, one course in high school is "too little, too late" - children already have a great deal of spending money and they need to know how to manage it beginning in elementary and middle school. Congratulations to the State Board of Education and I hope they keep doing what's right for children by avoiding the will of politicians!

Personal finance has always been big for me. As a college student who received a plentiful amount of education on personal finance in high school, I believe that education like the Comptroller is proposing is an economic necessity for the state of Maryland. I encourage everyone to sign this petition, and together, we can build a fiscally smarter Maryland.

And to all that believe that this course would be too much on students, I still was able to take AP courses along with my finance courses and passed them just fine. The mandate is just what we need!

Who would write the curriculum? I know Citibank is working on a big Financial Literacy component for schools in New York. If this goes through, would Maryland be setting itself up to shell out a huge amount of money to a place like Citibank in order to buy the curriculum?

Remember-- one of the biggest proponents of test-based assessment of teachers and students is the Washington Post, which is owned by Kaplan-- a testing company. Another big proponent-- and one who actually puts his money where his mouth is-- Bill Gates: Microsoft makes software that processes all those tests. Gates proposed another technology-based way to assess teachers: put video cameras controlled by a central computer system in every camera. Who would sell schools that computer system? Well, who else?

While Financial Literacy sounds all well and good, and Peter Franchot seems like a very nice man to think of it, he IS a politician, and politicians tend to need campaign money. Could a banking institution have approached him about this?

By the way-- who ever said that art, music and creative writing were not vital components of a well-rounded education? These things are the HEART of a good education. They are the reason we live. Which, after all, better feeds the soul-- the ability to compare credit card offers or the ability and discipline to make and appreciate fine art? Which would you rather your son be able to do-- balance a checkbook or fill a room with happy, dancing people?

It sickens my heart to hear people suggest that we are in this recession because of bad financial literacy. While those who have better financial literacy were probably less likely to get duped by subprime lenders, or have their savings swept away by the stock market, the problem wasn't those who got duped-- it was that the duping was actually LEGAL. Teaching high school students financial literacy in response to a recession is a little like providing a few holes for the feeder mice you bought from the store to hide in from your pet snake. The snake is still your pet, not the mice.

To drive home the pet-snake-vs-mouse metaphor, I wanted to add this link to a story in today's New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/business/citigroup-to-pay-285-million-to-settle-sec-charges.html?_r=1&hp

Meanwhile, Citigroup is setting itself up as a hero, providing financial literacy curricula for New York schools.

According to the article, Citi is settling out of court for $285 million because it "stuffed portfolios with risky mortgage-related investments, sold them to unsuspecting customers and bet against them." Because of the extremely bad investigations on the part of the Securities Exchange Commission, this is only the third case brought against a Wall Street Firm for this sort of thing-- which means that Citi was so blatant about it, it couldn't help but get caught.

Meanwhile, according to its own website, Citi has invested $14 million in "support of programs that generate a dramatic and sustainable increase in the number of first-generation students and those from low- to moderate-income families who are meeting the academic, financial and social milestones to enroll and complete a postsecondary degree."

http://www.citibank.com/citi/foundation/invest/success.htm

While sending poor kids to college is what we all want to do, Citi's strategy seems to be to sell school systems financial literacy curricula-- (more money for Citi) and turn the conversation away from the once prevalent idea of free State Education and toward the idea that everyone should start saving at birth in order to pay the ever-higher tuition.

According to Citi, poor kids don't go to college not because college is too expensive, but because poor kids don't know how to save money. So let's teach poor kids how to save money-- i.e. put it in the bank-- i.e. learn to give Citibank their money from a young age, and let's forget about free public education for all-- which by the way, is a Human Right, and not something we should have to pay for.

Thanks Peter Franchot, for bringing Wall Street to Maryland.

oh, and Peter Franchot is one of the big names being tossed around for Governor of Maryland 2014... wouldn't you think he needs some Wall Street money to support his campaign?

About time a mandatory course is in place. I don't want financial literacy taught piece meal by the history or math departments. Only three counties have a mandatory stand alone course. The rest will not institute it because of financial concerns. If you don't think we would all be better off if we were more financially savvy then I feel for you. We have been teaching this course at MSJ and next year it will be mandatory. Our students will be better prepared. How about yours?

The excuses that have been floated by opponents of financial literacy within the State Board of Education are preposterous, and have been discredited. The four counties that have created a mandatory standalone course have done so for little to no cost to the taxpayers, without any disruption to students' schedules. In return, these kids have learned crucial "real world" lessons -- such as the importance of responsible household budgeting, the risks of excessive debt and bad credit, and the principles of saving and investing for the future -- that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. At a time when too many people are suffering the consequences of bad financial decisions, we must put bureaucratic turf battles aside and act in the best interests of our kids.

This is an absolute no brainer! As a teacher of personal finance in a public school that has a curriculum designed specificly for this I couldn't agree more. My students all learn the finer, not just basic, points of creating and managing a budget, the pros and cons of credit card usage, a solid background in investing from stocks to bonds, understanding one's credit and its impact, and more. These students, many of whom hail from low income areas thrive on this material and when they leave high shcool have a real chance of succeeding in life. If we can find several million dollars to support illegal immigrants to get a break on college in-state costs, why can't we put a little effort toward doing realy making a difference with a curriculum that makes all the sense in the world!

I just had to chim in on these comments about the Comptroller only supporting financial education because he wants campaign money from Wall Street banks. As a conservative I don't agree with all, or even many of his social stands, but when it comes to the real concern on finances he's right on. He is passionate about this issue and NOT FOR ANY MONEY! Maybe I am naive but the one time I met him on this at a conference he held in Annapolis I could tell he really believes this is needed and the cost is very small, to train teachers to instruct the curriculum. As a teacher who uses financial education in my class every day in a special finance program offered in Baltimore County this stuff works. My students learn it, get it, and best of all use it for real. It is a must. For any legislator to be against this means though don't think educating our students on this vital issue is not important. Period. We have to wake up and realize the world is changing and everyone MUST start taking accountablity for theit own finances, whether they use a financial pro or not.

Most American’s are not fluent in the language of money. However, we are expected to make large financial decisions early in life ---should we take on student loans? Should we buy a car or can we afford a particular apartment.

Recent events in the nation’s economic crisis – foreclosure, short sales, loan defaults, and credit card defaults have demonstrated the need for more information regarding our personal finances and the decisions we have to make. But when and where should we receive this education ?

Presently, there are 13 states, according to the Council for Economic Education that require students to take a personal finance course or include the subject in an economics course prior to graduation.

Personal finance is too important of a subject to ignore. More and more employers are making decisions based on credit rating. Everything from your insurance rates to credit card, mortgage and other loan rates depend upon your credit rating. Thus, we can see how the lifestyle of a person that is unknowledgeable about the workings of money can negatively be impacted.

Waiting until you begin taking on the debt of student loans, cars, and credit cards is too late to teach the lessons needed to make sound decisions. Money lessons should begin as soon as our children can understand the concepts. There are many age appropriate lessons. However, a student should not be allowed to graduate from high school until they are prepared for this aspect of their lives just as we have prepared them academically.

I think this is a good thing.. We need to start teaching kids real life skills Money Mgmt is one of those skills for sure

Thanks for letting us know about this financial course proposal by franchot. Thanks for this useful information sharing.