Yesterday, the Missouri House Committee on Emerging Issues in Education began considering an initiative that would make high school personal finance classes a requirement for receiving a high school diploma in the state of Missouri. Currently, Missouri high school students are only required to take a half-credit of personal finance classes, and personal finance classes are defined so broadly that a class dedicated to social studies or anything that falls under the heading of “practical arts” meets the qualification. It is also possible to take a proficiency test that can provide an opt-out. Missouri does not disclose the results of its proficiency tests, but the national adult passage rate is 57%.
The current bill will modify Missouri’s existing law by removing the opt-out possibility and force students to take a class that focuses solely on personal finance related material (i.e. no more social studies and practical arts classes counting towards … Read the rest of this article!