06/11/15: A class with financial acumen

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

AS HIGH school seniors across Virginia graduate this month, they do so armed with a little more knowledge than their predecessors. The Class of 2015 is the first to have a course in economics and personal finance as a requirement for graduation.

The one-credit course became a requirement for those entering the ninth grade in the fall of 2011. Students can complete the course at any time during their high school career. In approving the financial literacy requirement, the Virginia Board of Education wrote, “Students need a strong foundation in economics and person al finance to function effectively as consumers, workers, savers, investors, entrepreneurs, and active citizens.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Virginia’s implementation of the financial literacy standard is among the best in the country. In a 2013 report, the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College awarded Virginia — and six other states — an A for its efforts to teach the basics of financial literacy.

Almost half of the states — 22 of 50  — received either a D or an F. Successful programs, according to the center, contain four elements: The course is required for graduation, teachers are properly trained, funding to offer the classes to all high school students is provided, and students must be assessed on their knowledge. Virginia has done all of these.

Further accolades for Virginia’s course came last April when Working in Support of Education (w!se) announced the country’s best high schools for personal financial instruction. Virginia high schools claimed 38 of the 100 spots, including nine in the top 30, according to w!se, a nonprofit that promotes financial literacy education. Two Hampton Roads schools were included in the top 100: Grassfield in Chesapeake and Cox in Virginia Beach. (Only the first 30 schools are ranked.)

The need for financial literacy cannot be overstated. The 2015 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey provides some sobering numbers. Nearly three in 10 adults in the United States do not save any money for retirement, and nearly a quarter admit to not paying their bills on time. While nearly 60 percent gave themselves an A or B on their knowledge of personal finance, three of four agreed they could benefit from advice and answers to everyday financial questions.

It is disheartening, then, when our legislature attempts to undermine this. After all, it wasn’t the General Assembly that passed the finance requirement in the first place. Bills introduced to include it repeatedly failed; the Virginia Department of Education used the regulatory process to have it included.

Attempts to weaken it seem to show up every year. In the most recent legislative session, three House bills — 1619, 1627 and 2088 — would have done just that. HB2088 would have gutted the requirement completely. Fortunately, due to the efforts of an ever-expanding coalition of groups that support the requirement, these efforts failed.

The Class of 2015 — and subsequent classes — will move on to the next phase of life better prepared for the financial decisions ahead. Look for them to improve the numbers in future financial literacy surveys.