Friday’s Food for Thought: Financial Literacy Should Be Part of School Curriculum

Throughout April, Financial Literacy Month, the Financial Services Roundtable and its member companies are leading financial literacy projects across America. These projects are part of the Roundtable’s Community Service 2010 initiative, which has a year-round focus on financial literacy.

We encourage everyone involved in promoting financial literacy to make safe data practices a fundamental part of the school curriculum. We especially want to thank our partner the National Cyber Security Alliance for the good work they’re doing to get Internet safety materials in the classroom.

Each year NCSA does a survey, The State of Cyberethics, Cybersafety, and Cybersecurity Curriculum in the U.S. Survey. It shows teachers and school administrators believe instructing students in safe Internet practices is important, yet more than three quarters of U.S. teachers have spent fewer than six hours on any type of professional development education related to cyberethics, cybersafety, and cybersecurity within the last 12 months. More than 50% of teachers reported their school districts do not require these subjects as curriculum and only 35% taught proper online conduct.

We can – and should – do better than this.

Here are five recommendations from the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy outlined in an article from U.S. News & World Report:

- Schools should be required to teach financial education from kindergarten through 12th grade
- College students should be required to take a course in financial literacy in order to receive federal student loans
- Employers should receive tax incentives to teach workers about money
- The government should create a resource center on its financial literacy website, www.mymoney.gov
- Financial institutions should be required to provide every adult American with access to a debit-card-accessible bank account

Financial services companies are already in classrooms across America and are planning to do more. In the meantime, we’re making improvements to My Money Management, a collaborative effort by the financial services industry to provide consumers with access to financial information and educational tools to help in managing their personal finances.

Stay tuned!