PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Senate is slated to vote Tuesday on a bill that would require high schools to offer personal finance classes beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Sandra Cano, D-Pawtucket, does not specifically state that students have to take the class, but simply that high schools have to offer it. However, beginning with the graduating class of 2024, students would have to prove financial literacy either by taking the class, completing a related project or some other metric set by the state Council on Elementary & Secondary Education. As defined in the legislation, financial literacy includes budgeting, price comparison, investing, protecting and insuring assets, and marketplace rights and responsibilities.
Cano, who also heads the Senate Education Committee, in a statement said the legislation will help students “make smart personal finance decisions and achieve economic success as adults.”
Companion legislation was also introduced in the R.I. House of Representatives, where it was held for further study after a hearing before the House Education Committee.
Rhode Island is one of a handful of states that does not already require finance instruction in school, according to a statement from the R.I. Office of the General Treasurer. The statement tied the lack of course requirements to the state’s high student loan debt burdens, rate of unbanked households and mortgage delinquency rates.
“Equipping Rhode Island students early on with the financial skills they need to manage their personal finances successfully will help ensure Rhode Islanders do not become victim to predatory financial lending schemes and will bolster the state economy as a whole,” the release stated.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
