April 2 Board of Education Instructional Policy Committee meeting
Covered by Documenter Wittman Sullivan (read his notes here)
Akron Public Schools officials aim to implement a required financial literacy course for all juniors starting next school year.
Board of Education members discussed the program during the Instructional Policy Committee meeting on April 2. More discussion and a final board vote are required before the plan goes into effect. It could be approved as soon as the April 22 board meeting.
The curriculum comes from California-based nonprofit Next Generation Personal Finance. Features of the program, according to NGPF’s website, include teaching units about banking, budgeting, consumer skills and managing credit.
NGPF started in 2014 with a mission to ensure that “every U.S. high school student will graduate having taken a one-semester course in personal finance by 2030.”
Financial literacy lessons include cryptocurrency, budgeting and how to buy a car
If the curriculum is approved, Akron teachers may teach mini-units including:
- Alternatives to four-year college
- Racial discrimination in finance
- Cryptocurrency
- Buying a house or a car
It’s unclear what units APS will choose to teach or what the final course will look like.
APS Chief Academic Officer Tamea Caver said during the meeting the course was originally part of the social studies curriculum but will now be a required semester course due to a new statewide requirement for public schools.
In 2022, the Ohio legislature added 60 hours of financial literacy instruction to public school graduation requirements. The law, which goes into effect in June, does not apply to private schools, under most circumstances.
Students may substitute a math or elective class
Students will be able to take the new course as a substitute for a math class or a certain type of elective class according to the state law requiring this class.
As part of the presentation to the board, Social Studies Supervisor Adam Motter said that two committees made up of APS students, staff, teachers, parents and financial experts reviewed four curriculum options and scored NGPF’s program the highest.
They looked at various options to see how they aligned with several APS strategic goals, including college and career readiness and cultural understanding. Both committees concluded that NGPF’s curriculum satisfied both APS and Ohio standards.
Related reading: Akron Schools changes Chromebook take-home policy for some students in an effort to reduce repair and replacement costs. READ MORE HERE.