Insight With Vicki Gonzalez - Guest Shawn Varshney
A bill making its way through the state legislature would require a financial literacy course as a graduation requirement across California high schools. A Sacramento Bee sports reporter discusses Sacramento State women’s basketball team’s first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament, and the Golden 1 Center hosting the first two rounds of the Men’s tournament this weekend.
Financial literacy in high school
California falls behind many states in financial literacy education, according to the American Public Education Foundation. More students are graduating high school and are going to college but lack the tools to navigate their finances. Assembly Bill 984, authored by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty aims to address this issue by requiring a financial literacy course for graduation. Financial literacy advocates are hopeful that California would join a short list of states requiring financial literacy. Shawn Varshney is an Oak Ridge High School student, from El Dorado Hills and the cofounder of “Financial Literacy for You” a peer-to-peer nonprofit organization working to address the need for financial literacy. He joined Insight to share how he's helping his peers understand the world of loans, credit cards, and overdraft fees instead of learning the hard way as adults. Insight also invited Fred Jones, a policy analyst for California Jumpstart, a non-profit organization that helps advocate for young people on financial literacy.