PASCO — When Christi Snyder goes away to college next year, she
won’t have to learn the hard way about staying on top of her bills and
within her budget.
That’s because the Career and Consumer
Connections class she took at Kamiakin High School in Kennewick taught
her about personal finance.
“They should add more classes like
this to teach kids about the real world,” said the 18-year-old senior.
That’s the idea behind new legislation introduced last monthby Sen.
Patty Murray, D-Wash. The Financial and Economic Literacy Improvement
Act of 2009 would provide $250 million in grants to states each year
over five years for financial literacy education.
Murray touted
the legislation Monday during a stop at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.
“A
lot of people are asking, ‘How did the country get to this?’ ” she
said, referring to the recession.
Wall Street executives and
other officials deserve blame, she said. But many Americans also have
made uninformed financial choices, such as agreeing to mortgages they
don’t understand, Murray said.
Under the act, $125 million would
be given to states each year for K-12 financial literacy education. The
same amount would be provided for programs at two- and four-year
colleges.
A clearinghouse also would be created to provide easy
access to resources on teaching financial literacy.
The
legislation is being co-sponsored by Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY.
Educators and community leaders
joined Murray in emphasizing the importance of teaching budgeting,
saving and other financial concepts in school.
“We need to be able
to reach all of our young people today,” said Christina Brown,
president and CEO of Gesa Credit Union. The credit union puts on
financial education seminars and also helps students operate branches at
some Tri-City schools.
Rich Cummins, CBC president, and Chris
Martinson, career and technical education director for Pasco schools,
also spoke at the event.
Snyder said she’ll use the financial
smarts she gained in school when she strikes out on her own. She’ll put
aside a little from each paycheck and won’t “go out and blow my money on
other things,” she said.
Her teacher, Linda Willingham, said most
students who enter her class don’t even have their own checking
accounts. By the end, they’ve learned about everything from banking to
identity theft.
Willingham said she’d like to see financial
literacy become a graduation requirement in the state.
“Our
students are our future,” she said. “Financial literacy is one way to
prepare them for the future.”
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