Findings from the Council for Economic Education have once again encouraged local leaders to promote financial literacy in their schools.

California Assemblyman Roger Hernandez’ bill to bolster financial literacy instruction at high schools statewide is making progress. The Diamond Bar-Walnut Patch has more on his efforts.

“Financial literacy is an issue of equity. Not everyone is given an opportunity at home to be financially literate,” Hernandez said. “Teaching this topic at schools prepares our students to enter an increasingly competitive workforce and gives them the tools to help protect themselves against predatory lending, credit card fraud and other deceptive practices.”

POSTED: March 28, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: 9-12, Councils & Centers, Financial Literacy, Government, personal finance, Politics, Students, teachers

Calling all K-12 classroom teachers! Enter our video contest for a chance to win $1,000 and one complimentary registration to our annual conference. CEE will conduct an online video contest during the 2013 Financial Literacy Month (April 1- 30).

Teachers: What is your most creative idea for implementing personal finance into the classroom?

During Financial Literacy Month (FLM), when CEE raises awareness for the importance of financial literacy education, we’re looking for creative ideas from K-12 teachers on how you incorporate these concepts in the classroom. You should record yourself explaining or demonstrating (in 30 seconds or less) a specific lesson, activity or project. Think of this as an ‘elevator pitch’ for your best lesson, original idea or creative spin on an existing concept.

Need inspiration? Watch CEE’s Doug Young as he uses the board game ‘Look Out Wall Street!‘ to teach the bulls and bears of personal finance.

Submit your video(s) beginning April 1 at 9:00am EST through Sunday, April 14 at 11:59pm EST.

Public voting for entries begins Tuesday, April 16 at 9:00am EST and ends Monday, April 29 at 11:59pm EST.

Two ‘Grand Prizes’ will be awarded on April 30, and all videos will be featured on CEE’s websites and Facebook pages.

Grand Prize: Viewers’ Choice:
The winner of the Viewers’ Choice award will receive a $1,000 American Express gift card for classroom use and one complimentary registration ($125 value) to CEE’s 52nd Annual Financial Literacy and Economic Education Conference in Baltimore, MD in October.

Grand Prize: CEE’s Choice:
The winner of the CEE’s Choice award will receive a $1,000 American Express gift card for classroom use and one complimentary registration ($125 value) to CEE’s 52nd Annual Financial Literacy and Economic Education Conference in Baltimore, MD in October.

Start prepping your videos today, and you’ll be ready to enter when the contest opens April 1. Read the complete rules and guidelines on our Facebook page.

Good luck. We look forward to watching your tips and tricks for teaching financial literacy!

POSTED: March 26, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Contest, Facebook, Financial Literacy, Lessons, personal finance, teachers, video

Illinois has placed a high priority on the financial literacy of its students, as it was one of the first states to implement rigorous economic and personal finance standards. This semester, its largest city continues to raise the bar for school systems nationwide: Chicago Public Schools (CPS) introduces a dedicated personal finance course for 12th-graders with resources developed by CEE.

Nan J. Morrison, President & CEO of CEE, outlines what this means for CPS and our nation’s students in her latest blog post on Huffington Post Education, “Chicago Public Schools Raise the Bar for Financial Education.”

Read the full blog post here.

POSTED: February 11, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: 9-12, CEO, Financial Literacy, partners, personal finance, school program, Students, Survey of the States, teachers

Kate O’Hagan, a 4th grade teacher in Brooklyn, NY, uses CEE’s ‘Classroom Mini-Economy’ to teach real-world lessons in her class.

The United Federation of Teachers wrote a great article about Kate and her class, “Although they’re having fun, these children at PS 97 in Brooklyn are learning the serious business of being a grown-up in the Classroom Mini-Economy project, which O’Hagan began this past September after taking a free professional development unit on it at the Council for Economic Education in Manhattan.” Read more…

POSTED: February 6, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: economics, elementary, Financial Literacy, Lessons, personal finance, Professional Development, school program, Students, teachers, training

Diane Ravitch, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, is a historian of education, an educational policy analyst and a research professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. She also writes an education blog that is widely read, and sometime closely scrutinized, but the industry.

Today, her blog featured a guest post by Brian Page, award-winning educator, who demonstrates the same passion and drive for education as Ravitch does.

From Page’s post, “I want our children first introduced to complicated financial concepts and contracts by teachers who love them and who are trying to help them, not by someone trying to trick them. Relying on the school of hard knocks should not be an option anymore. It is time a step is added in the ladder to empower future generations to make wise and informed financial choices. Personal Finance should be integrated into every child’s K-12 educational experience, and a course in Personal Finance should be a semester-long high school graduation requirement.”

We couldn’t agree more. Read the full post here, and see what Ravitch has to say on her blog here.

POSTED: January 16, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: Credit Cards, Debt, Financial Aid, Financial Literacy, Lessons, personal finance, Student Loans, Students, teachers

CEE’s Survey of the States is often referenced in articles such as this one from MSN Money, ‘Why Teens Fail at Managing Money.’ Findings from the Survey show that over the last two years, economics and personal finance requirements to graduate high school are slowing and in some cases moving backwards.

Today’s student loan debt is more than the national credit card debt, and if students continue to graduate high school and college without financial literacy, both numbers could continue to climb exponentially.

Read the complete story here, and leave your comments below.

POSTED: January 7, 2013 | BY: Leslie Rasimas | TAGS: CEO, Credit Cards, Financial Literacy, parents, personal finance, Student Loans, Students, Survey of the States, teachers