I am a lifelong UConn basketball fan, so March Madness is thrilling for me. This year was extra special, and not only because the Huskies took home the Men’s NCAA title! During this year’s tournament, my home state of Connecticut was also considering requiring all high schoolers to take a personal finance course before graduation!

Exciting news: with Governor Ned Lamont’s signature on June 7th, Connecticut is now the 21st state with a personal finance graduation requirement for all high school students. It was one of my greatest professional honors to be able to participate in the legislative process in Hartford, CT as this exciting policy made its way through each step.

A few details about the newly required course:

• It’s a standalone, one-semester personal finance course that teaches life-changing skills and concepts like banking, budgeting, saving, managing credit, investing, insurance, taxes, and consumer skills.
• Standards and curriculum recommendations are to be distributed by the Connecticut Department of Education.
• The course can fulfill existing requirements in social studies or electives so as not to add to the total number of required credits.
• The requirement becomes effective starting with 9th graders this upcoming school year, with the first graduating class required to take the course being the class of 2027. This gives districts that do not already have the course in place an opportunity to ramp up over time.

Here’s a timeline of how it went down, and what it was like to take part in this education victory in my home state.

Starting in September of 2022, we gathered for weekly updates between Mark Burton and Kit Kaufman from the NGPF Mission 2030 Fund (NGPF’s affiliated state advocacy nonprofit) and Aurora Melitta and Paul Nuñez from DNB Lobby, a Government Relations firm in New Haven, CT.

We knew that, despite the popularity of personal finance education, it was going to be a challenge to get this ambitious policy across the finish line in 2023. Why? The state already had 25 credits required for HS graduation, and - like many places around the U.S. - lots of competing educational priorities amid finite resources. In prior efforts in Connecticut dating back several years, advocates had run into a familiar challenge: there’s a certain “M” word that can send even the most thoughtfully crafted legislation down a path of defeat. The opposition usually goes something like this: "Financial Literacy is so important, but we can't keep jamming more mandates into our school systems."

Yet in our opinion (and in the opinion of 80-90% of Americans), Personal Finance is too important to cast aside as “just another mandate.” To get this done in the short 2023 Session, which ran from January through early June, we were going to have to (1) partner with awesome people, (2) seize timely opportunities, (3) collaborate on creative solutions, and (4) find our measure of good luck. So, to the extent we could influence any of these elements, that’s what we set out to do.

By the end of May 2023, Senate Bill 1165 - the legislation that made personal finance a graduation requirement - had passed by wide bipartisan margins in both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly and was headed to the Governor's desk. He then signed the bill on June 7th.

What made this effort successful?

1. We partnered with awesome people.

Each week with the fantastic team from DNB Lobby, we aligned our advocacy strategies, unearthed coalition-building opportunities, and prepared for upcoming meetings with pivotal stakeholders in the legislature and beyond.

You know what they say about effective education: “It takes a village.” Well, so does a winning advocacy campaign! I want to thank all of the experts, lawmakers, educators, and community advocates we met this winter and spring, without whose contributions the bill would have failed.

Throughout the winter, DNB scheduled pivotal meetings for us with (in chronological order):

• State Department of Education leadership
• Connecticut Credit Union League President Bruce Adams,
• Bill author and sponsor Rep. Corey Paris
• Rep. Antonio Felipe
• Sen. Pat Billie Miller
• Rep. Manny Sanchez
• Sen. Jorge Cabrera
• Joint Education Committee Co-Chairs Rep. Jeff Currey and Sen. Doug McCrory
• Sen. Eric Berthel
• Rep. Tom Delnicki
• Senate President Martin Looney and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff

The NGPF Mission 2030 Fund team was fortunate and grateful to have met these awesome people in Connecticut, many of whom selflessly moved the ball forward for Senate Bill 1165 (the bill that eventually became law in June). We owe these people a big hearty THANK YOU!

In October, Rep. Corey Paris stepped up as the primary bill author and legislative champion. And a champion he was! Check out this article that Rep. Paris and Rep. Tom Delnicki co-authored for CTPost about the merits of the personal finance graduation requirement.

In February, we met an inspiring advocate, retired NFL player Jordan Reed, through a connection DNB Lobby had made with local education advocate Karen Talamelli-Cusick. Jordan was born and raised in New London before heading to the University of Florida and later the NFL with an 8-year career as a TE for Washington and San Francisco. In his post-professional athletics career, Jordan was ready to extend his impact to something he cares deeply about: financial education for young people in his home state of Connecticut.

Jordan stepped up as the headliner for a televised press conference with Rep. Paris announcing our legislative effort on March 3rd. Bearing witness to Jordan's story - and his generous willingness to share it to advance the needs of others - is something I will never forget. Check it out on the broadcast from WFSB that night! In large part due to Jordan lending his voice to this effort, the Joint Education Committee introduced Senate Bill 1165 and scheduled it for a pivotal public hearing the very next week.

Sen. Doug McCrory and Rep. Jeff Currey, co-Chairs of the Joint Education Committee showed thoughtful leadership by introducing this separate bill from the Education Committee. The bill had even more "teeth" given it was coming from the Education Committee's co-Chairs.

Through Sen. McCrory’s outreach, we met Patrina Dixon, a passionate financial educator from Sen. McCrory’s district whose It’s My Money financial literacy program serves students and communities all over Connecticut. Patrina spoke at the March 3rd press conference, testified in support of the bill at the March 10th Education Committee hearing, and kept the momentum building with thoughtful, timely outreach to lawmakers. Later, her impact echoed in the Senate chamber when Senator McCrory lauded It’s My Money in his final remarks before the floor vote on May 9th.

I hope I have begun to reveal what a team effort this was, but I'm not done yet! I'm going to keep the shout-outs for this TEAM rolling in the next section.

2. We seized timely opportunities

In my estimation, there were 5 stages of the legislative process that were make-or-break for our efforts this year in Connecticut:

1. Press Conference
2. Public Hearing
3. Amendment
4. Senate Floor Vote
5. House Floor Vote

Amid the aforementioned challenges to new course mandates, if we didn’t get all five of these events pitch perfect, the bill was likely dead despite its popularity.

That’s why I want to give a MASSIVE shout out to an ace partner we were lucky to meet along the way. In fact, this wonderful educator was someone that NGPF co-founder Tim Ranzetta had met 7 years prior as he was mulling over how to start our organization. This teacher's passion for financial education has become legendary among the NGPF Team, and certainly among her community. Barbara Angelicola-Manzolli, a veteran personal finance teacher from Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington, and an NGPF Distinguished Educator, has been championing this effort in Connecticut since 2007, and she helped us get all 5 crucial stages right.

1. Barbara spoke passionately at the March 3rd Press Conference, and made an appearance on the local news that night!
2. Barbara’s testimony, alongside three of her amazing students, was the highlight of the entire Public Hearing on March 10th!
3. Barbara’s ability to confidently navigate the large number of graduation requirements in CT inspired the Amendment to the bill that eventually consolidated bipartisan support.
4. That support led to a 35-1 Senate Floor Vote on May 9th.
5. That support, plus the momentum from the Senate vote, led to a 138-12 House Floor Vote on May 30th before the bill went to the Governor’s desk.

Without Barbara’s determination, credibility, and courage, would this effort have garnered media attention? Sure. But would lawmakers have had the confidence to support the bill despite the “M” word? Would the bill have passed the Senate on a 35-1 vote? Could it have conceivably passed the Senate on a 138-12 vote? I honestly don’t think so. Barbara was an absolutely crucial changemaker at every step of this process.

Barbara, if you’re reading this, THANK YOU!

3. We collaborated on creative solutions

When the NGPF Mission 2030 Fund begins advocacy in any state, we start with 5 principles for effective financial education policy:

1. All high school students should be guaranteed to take a standalone personal finance course of at least one semester prior to graduation, recommended at the 11th or 12th grade level.
2. Use existing national or state standards that have been updated in the last 5 years (i.e. you don’t need to reinvent the wheel).
3. Ensure highly qualified and confident teachers through licensure and professional development.
4. Allow the new personal finance graduation requirement to fulfill a choice of existing required credits.
5. Thoughtful implementation timeline (typically 2-4 years) so schools and districts have time to ramp up.

I’ve bolded #4 above because the originally introduced Senate Bill 1165 did not have this provision in place. Amending the bill to include that bolded provision is what enabled SB1165 to consolidate support from lawmakers ahead of both the Senate and House votes. With 25 credits already required for graduation - more than most other states - it was going to be exceedingly difficult to add a 26th.

Instead, the newly required personal finance course can count for either an existing social studies credit or required electives credit. This creative provision, agreed upon by large majorities of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, maintained the one-semester personal finance requirement while also not adding to the total number of graduation requirements.

To be clear, this amendment DOES NOT limit the licensure for the course to teachers of social studies or electives. There are teachers throughout the state of Connecticut from several different departments who are teaching this course with passion and confidence.

Creativity for the win!

4. We found our measure of good luck.

As I've mentioned a few times, this policy is not easy to get across the finish line in any state. The effort required partnering with awesome team mates from far and wide, seizing timely opportunities, finding creative solutions to the objections that inevitably came up, and of course... good luck!

There are so many factors that had to break right for this to happen. What if Barbara hadn't started teaching personal finance way back in 2007? What if Jordan Reed hadn't retired from the NFL in 2020, turning his attention at this specific moment to financial education? What if the State of Connecticut hadn't recently passed legislation around baby bonds, 529 plans, and student loans? Would this bill have gotten the same chance to succeed in 2023?

I'll leave it to you to decide.

Many, many thanks!

When I was a youngster growing up in Connecticut, I idolized UConn basketball legends like Ray Allen, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Rip Hamilton, and Diana Taurasi. These Gampel Pavilion champions will always hold a special place in my heart, but now I have new Connecticut idols to admire in an entirely different arena.

To all the amazing educators who contacted their State Reps ahead of the House Vote on May 30th… to all the advocates who suffered through my many emails throughout the session… to all the lawmakers who were willing to go to bat for the next generation of Connecticut’s young people, and to Governor Lamont:

Thank you, team!

About the Author

Christian Sherrill

Former teacher, forever financial education nerd. As NGPF's Director of Growth & Advocacy, Christian is laser-focused on our mission to guarantee all students a rigorous personal finance course before crossing the high school graduation stage. Having paid down over $40k in student loans in the span of 3 years - while living in the Bay Area on an entry level teacher's salary - he's eager to help the next generation avoid financial pitfalls one semester at a time.

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