Amid bleaker and bleaker economic news, San Diego Unified is adding a segment on financial literacy to economics classes for its high school seniors, to be introduced this school year.
A San Diego Unified report says the financial lessons originated in October 2005 when the school district convened a task force on personal financial literacy, spurred by principals and economics teachers who were worried by their students’ lack of financial savvy. Local banks joined the effort. They were dissatisfied with existing curricula for financial literacy and decided to write their own.
Their final creation includes units on income taxes, checking accounts, credit cards and identity theft. San Diego Unified credits Kearny High School of International Business teacher Mike Little for much of the effort. Here’s a snippet from the report:
Little shares, “I think before students participate in these lessons, they think of finances as some obscure, mysterious topic removed from them. We bring it up front and personal and shed light on it, making it understandable.”
School board members will discuss the report and the expansion of financial literacy classes in San Diego Unified on Tuesday.