As a decade-long board member and current chair of the California Jump$tart Coalition, a heartfelt thanks to you for being an advocate of financial literacy.
First, a bit of humor I came across about the lack of personal finance education: "I'm glad I learned about parallelograms instead of how to do taxes; it really comes in handy during parallelogram season."
Many observations can be made about what should be taught in our K-12 schools. Most of us understand the irony in that joke because, as adults, we know how essential personal financial management is to one's adult life.
When I decided to leave a career in office management and accounting, I returned to college for a high school teaching credential. My interests and background prepared me to teach business and economics. It was not long into my instructional career that I recognized the opportunity to integrate concepts of personal finance into my courses. Teaching my econ students about government taxation, spending, debt, and deficits, I contextualized those topics using examples from personal money management; budgeting, savings, investing, and retirement. My entrepreneurship students learned about opportunity recognition, market development and customer service, but throughout the course, we discussed how the failure to manage financial records, revenue, costs, and cash flow, could put any small business at risk.
Though my role in education has changed, now focused on post-secondary coordination, I continue to find opportunities to communicate to students, the risks inherent in failure to manage one's own money; putting opportunities out of reach, security, retirement, and even personal health, on shaky ground.
Our board members, past and present, are volunteers passionate about the need to provide personal finance education in California. We are grateful for you joining us in understanding the need and helping to support financial literacy in your schools and communities.
I wish you a happy and healthy holiday season and success in 2022.