Among bills being considered–by both houses–in Tallahassee this session is one that would require all high school graduates to take a financial literacy class.
How relevant. How necessary. How have we waited so long?
Exhibit A: We now have data showing that about a third of Americans approaching retirement have saved nothing for it. No pension plan, no savings account. No accounting for this disquieting version of “American exceptionalism.”
And while we’re at it, why not make sure that the fundamentals of real-world, American capitalism are combined with a Civics requirement?
When barely half of the voters turn out for a presidential election, we have reason to worry. When electorate pandering results in a President Trump or a Governor Scott, we have a crisis. When voter indifference and bias can prevent, say, regional mass transit, we have a fundamental problem in citizen involvement–the lifeblood of democracy.
And while we’re still at it, let’s include a primer on modern media–and its manifest minefields.
If our schools are truly to prepare students for viable lives in this free-enterprise, morphing-media democracy, the curricular status quo can no longer be maintained.