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Survey of the States: A Report Card March 2005 Dear Friends,
Our issue is now a national issue. No longer is the question “Should we take action on improving economic and financial literacy?” but “How shall we do it?” Participants in this urgent and timely debate include members of Congress, federal and state officials, and leaders in business, education, community service and media. The relationship between economic literacy and economic stability has reached the headlines. Our national leaders are endorsing strategies modeled on best practices. We have federal commitment to our issues articulated in the Excellence in Economic Education Act (EEE). In this context, it is our responsibility to ensure that the solution begins in our schools, because economic and financial literacy is not intuitive. It is learned. This survey gives us an indication of how best to address the teaching of economics and personal finance in our nation. It must be state-by-state, because that is where curriculum decisions are made. Our federal government must encourage states to place economic and personal finance education not only into state standards, but into core curriculum. Once in the core curriculum, these subjects must be required, taught, taught well, taken and tested. With this report, we look at the national picture and see where we are succeeding and where we need more attention. We invite and facilitate discussions that drive increasing support for programs that reach across the nation and cross socioeconomic boundaries. We encourage the widening circles of influence that drive real improvement and real change. And we deliver added impetus to those who control the resources that are needed to drive economic and financial literacy. This fourth biennial installment of our ongoing study supports our shared call to action. Please join me in using this information to ensure that every young person across the country has the tools he or she needs to be a well-prepared member of a true “ownership society”. Once again the National Council on Economic Education is grateful to State Farm Insurance Companies for its generosity in funding this important survey. Robert F. Duvall
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