• The 4th R: Real Life is a student essay (NY Times) highlighting the reasons that personal finance should be a high school graduation requirement. Here's an excerpt: "When students graduate high school, they are thrust into adulthood, whether they join the work force or pursue higher education. They assume immense financial responsibilities almost immediately. How can the government expect 19-year-olds to complete tax forms if they’ve never learned about them in school? Young adults who lack basic knowledge of economics and personal finance are vulnerable to fraud, debt, commercialism and worse."
• Lodi Unified School District (CA) looks at requiring financial literacy class (Lodi News-Sentinel): “The purpose of K-12 is to prepare kids for life after high school. Today, we’ve got extremely predatory lending practices that are legal, and some kids don’t understand the basics of how to manage their own finances,” Neely said. “The idea here is to come up with a way of helping them with the basics so they understand student loans, credit cards, credit scores and buying large-ticket items so they go out there a little more prepared.”
• Coalition in Kentucky formed to support financial empowerment for K-12 teachers (UKnow): Economic and entrepreneurship educators from the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, the Booth Entrepreneurship Center at Morehead State University, Murray State University and Northern Kentucky University have formed the Coalition for Financial Literacy in the Commonwealth to enhance the teaching of personal finance, entrepreneurship and economics throughout Kentucky. 
• South Dakota mulling graduation requirements which may include 0.5 credits of Personal Finance OR Economics (Rapid City Journal): Currently and under the proposal, South Dakota high school students need 22 units (basically classes). The proposed credit breakdown for a base diploma is also the same as the current: 4 units in English, 3 in Math, 3 in Science, 3 in Social Studies, 1 in Fine Arts, 1 in Approved CTE (Career/Technical Education) or World Language or Capstone, and .5 units in Phy-Ed, Health, and Personal Finance or Economics.
• Meanwhile, the Citibank CEO highlighted the importance of financial education (Cheddar): "If Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat had it his way, school children would be learning finance alongside history, science, geography, and math. “Years ago, they taught different courses in terms of finance in school. Today, you go to most schools and no one will tell you how to balance your bank account or what it’s like to fill out a loan application,” he said in an interview with Cheddar on Thursday.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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