We’ve all heard and maybe even said the familiar refrain when it comes to the things we learn in high school: Why do they teach kids algebra but not how to handle their money?
Well in many schools across America, they are now doing both as “financial literacy” is quickly becoming a graduation requirement for high schoolers.
A new report published by Next Gen Personal Finance shows that 25 states are now offering a financial literacy class to K-12 students. Of those 25, eight have fully integrated the class into their curriculum, but the other 17 are well on their way.
That’s a big shift from just four years ago when only eight states total offered the course.
“All of a sudden, it does seem like states are sitting up and taking notice, and it’s really just happened in the past couple of years,” said Jessica Pelletier, executive director of FitMoney, told The Hill.
She said that she believes the combination of the pandemic and the economic downturn made the ability to manage money truly hit home for a lot of families.
“I think those two things combined really made parents and educators together become a very cohesive voice for financial literacy, and so legislators are taking notice [of] what they’re hearing from their constituents, that this is what they want,” she said.