When state Rep. Anthony Hartsook was a commander in the U.S. Army, he’d see soldiers try to explain why their checks bounced at the PX or Army store.“They go, well, I have a credit card, right? I have checks in my checkbook … They just simply didn’t understand.”Hartsook would order the soldier to attend a financial literacy class.“They would come back and go, ‘That class was great.’ They learned things they simply hadn’t any experience before in life … how to deal with the expenses of living, buying a car … they understood the basics of finances that would set them up for success in the future.”The Douglas County Republican lawmaker was surprised to learn that financial literacy is not a required course in Colorado schools. That’s when he signed on as a sponsor to a bipartisan bill to require all students to take a one-semester course in financial literacy in order to graduate. Right now, most Colorado students go out into the world with no knowledge about taxes, savings, loans or investments. Bill sponsors said just 13 percent of students are guaranteed access to a personal finance course before graduation. And today’s students are more vulnerable than ever to online gambling, cryptocurrency schemes and other get-rich-quick apps online, they say.Colorado’s largest district, Denver Public Schools, adopted financial literacy as a graduation requirement starting with the class of 2027 after a group of DPS alumni advocated for it.Still, just a quarter of districts require personal finance to graduateColorado has financial literacy standards, which were updated in 2021. They include topics like saving, investing, debt, credit, leasing versus buying, insurance premiums, managing student loan debt, and retirement plans. While the state board strongly encourages local school districts to require personal finance courses, only about a quarter of the state’s 178 districts include personal finance as a requirement to graduate.“Encouraging just simply hasn’t been getting the job done,” said Hartsook. “We have red and blue states across the country that have found this to be very successful. We need kids to graduate to enter the workforce who understand financial literacy, balance sheets, credit cards, their banks, … and just having it as a recommendation simply isn’t achieving enough of what we need to do.”Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsRepublican state Rep. Anthony Hartsook on the House floor, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024.The bill also makes filling out a federal or state financial aid form, the CAFSA or FAFSA, as a condition for graduation. It does, however, allow students to opt-out. Colorado ranks 46th in FAFSA completion. About 37 percent of high school seniors completed the FAFSA last year, well below the national average. State officials say Coloradans are leaving an estimated $30 million on the table in unclaimed aid each year.“A lot of low-income families qualify for free aid, and they just don’t know and they haven’t
Gio. Feb 13th, 2025
