Financial Literacy Bill: Editorial by Professor Schmitz

Professor Amy Schmitz’s editorial titled “SPEAKOUT: Let's Help Our Kids Learn Financial Ropes” appeared in today’s Rocky Mountain News. Read the complete editorial.

“April is Financial Literacy Month. President Bush is currently touting his establishment of a President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter also has noted the importance of educating our children to live and work in today's market, proposing his Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids.

But despite such initiatives, Colorado's financial literacy bill seems to have fallen off the radar screen. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of legislators proposed House Bill 1168 requiring addition of financial literacy content to K-12 math classes in Colorado's schools. News stories lauded the bill, and everyone from bankers to students testified in support of it at committee hearings. They all stressed the necessity for financial education in the schools to equip Colorado's youth with the tools for survival in today's economy. The bill nonetheless lingers in the Appropriations Committee with little sign of life.

We need to do more as a state. If passed, HB 1168 would require Colorado to invest state economic and human resources in establishing usable model standards and materials for K-12 math classes. To be sure, the bill's $550,000 price tag appears hefty, but policy-makers may be able to conserve costs by borrowing from other states' programs and building on model standards that Jump$tart, the National Council on Economic Education and others already have developed. Moreover, investing in financial literacy education will pay huge dividends for our state's financial future. Indeed, we simply cannot afford to send our youth into today's economic jungle without adequate educational protection.”