Magaziner backs bill for high school personal finance class

By IAN WEINER
Posted 1/15/19

“This is a big day, and I think a day that is long overdue, because all Rhode Islanders deserve to have an opportunity to achieve financial security, and a vital piece of that is ensuring that all …

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Magaziner backs bill for high school personal finance class

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“This is a big day, and I think a day that is long overdue, because all Rhode Islanders deserve to have an opportunity to achieve financial security, and a vital piece of that is ensuring that all students coming out of Rhode Island high schools have the knowledge to make sound financial decisions,” General Treasurer Seth Magaziner said in front of a packed State House library on Jan. 10.

Legislation regarding personal finance education becoming a requirement in Rhode Island high schools by 2022 has received the support of 30 state Senators in just two days. The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Sandra Cano (Pawtucket) and Representative Joe McNamara (Warwick).

Magaziner said Rhode Island has fallen behind other states in financial education, and the timeline for this legislation will give school districts enough time to plan. He expressed that teaching students about credit cards, savings accounts, interest rates and debt are vital to making sound financial decisions.

“Thirty-six states guarantee financial education in their statewide curriculum. Rhode Island is not one of those 36 states, and that is what we are here to change today,” Magaziner said. “We know that about two-thirds of the students that are graduating from Rhode Island high schools every year do not have any exposure to personal finance during those four years. We’re talking about very basic, but important life skills.”

The legislation would require that all high schools offer a personal finance elective during the 2019-2020 school year. Then, by 2022, personal finance will be a graduation requirement.

Senator Cano addressed the importance of financial literacy and personal finance education as well, commenting on how crucial it is when determining an individual’s future.

“Our children go to school so they can be prepared for life an independent adult,” she said. “They are missing a crucial topic of teaching that will dictate the course of their entire lives.”

Just like Magaziner, Cano cited the importance of having knowledge about credit cards, mortgages, banking, saving accounts and debt.

“We are doing a huge disservice to our children when they become legal adults without the basic financial knowledge they need to navigate our complicated financial system,” Cano said.

On the House side, McNamara, who is head of the Health, Education and Welfare Committee, said that Rhode Island is one of the leading states in student loan debt, un-banked and under banked households and mortgage foreclosures. He said that it is crucial to the financial future of Rhode Island that students have knowledge of financial literacy.

“We are in fact in desperate waters,” McNamara said.

McNamara also used the state’s symbol, an anchor, as a metaphor for the importance of incorporating financial literacy classes in Rhode Island high schools.

“One hundred years ago, when they built this state house, they realized the anchor was a state symbol,” McNamara said. “An anchor kept them safe during difficult storms. This financial literacy graduation requirement is the anchor that will secure the future and safety of our students as they mature and get older.”

Kathleen Lisi, the Business Department Chair at North Providence High School and Patricia Page, the Vice President of Rhode Island Jumpstart and 2014 Rhode Island State Teacher of the Year also spoke.

Lisi discussed the ease of incorporating personal finance into curriculum, stating that teachers want to teach student financial literacy. According to Lisi, it could be taught in a half-year or full-year course, and the difference will be seen beyond state lines.

“It’s a simple task- revising curriculum, and incorporating personal finance into current business courses,” Lisi said. “It is critical that we all begin working to improve the financial literacy statistics and empower our children with a strong financial education. Making members of our community financially knowledgeable will improve not only the economy of Rhode Island, but the world as a whole.”

Page explained that financial education extends beyond high school students. She stated that children in elementary school are making cashless transactions within school cafeterias, and making purchases on mobile devices that later show up on a parents’ credit card.

“We know how to do this, we can do this, we have to do this,” Page said. “If our collective objective is to position Rhode Island students for post-secondary success, then personal finance needs to be part of the conversation. Personal finance needs to be part of the curriculum.”

Commissioner of Education Ken Wagner was unable to be reached. He sent the Beacon the following statement:

“We are supportive of further integrating financial literacy into our schools, and there are communities doing some really excellent work in this space. We do not believe that opening up the secondary regulations again for Council review-which would be required in order to change the graduation requirements-is necessary at this time, particularly without additional funding for schools. There are other ways to build LEA capacity and increase personal finance offerings, including through ongoing professional learning for educators, which is prioritized in our updated teacher certification regulations.”

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