Chicago Public Schools to fit 'financial literacy' into curriculum starting next fall

Passing algebra, geometry and calculus is one thing. Mastering the skills needed to pay bills, balance a checkbook, make car and mortgage payments is quite another.

Chicago's 113,166 public high school students may soon get a steady diet of both.

Schools CEO Ron Huberman disclosed Tuesday that "financial literacy" would be worked into the curriculum at Chicago's 116 public high schools in time for the start of school next fall.

Huberman made the announcement after joining City Treasurer Stephanie Neely to highlight the 45 minutes of financial education instruction being given this week to 71,000 students in 2,500 Chicago classrooms.

"What we're currently working on with the help of a lot of folks is incorporating this permanently into the high school curriculum and making it a core requirement -- something every high school student across CPS needs to learn," Huberman told a news conference at Lewis Elementary School, 1431 N. Leamington.

"We're [trying to] figure out what is the right amount and where do you fit it in. ... It may fit in the math curriculum as well as the social science curriculum. But, the goal is to figure out what do high school students needs to know when they graduate."

Huberman said he wants high school graduates to know the basics about saving and investing money, how to calculate interest rates on home and car loans and to be on the look-out for credit card service fees.

"Obviously, you can do a lot more sophisticated learning at the high school level so students begin to understand what makes up a mortgage, how do you go about it and understanding all of those life-skill issues," he said.

Neely acknowledged that it's an uphill battle to teach kids how to save.

"Every year, our children are bombarded with thousands of commercials that are telling them to spend, spend, spend," she said.

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said financial ignorance is worse today than it was when she grew up in Arkansas.

"Now, you have parents who don't have a job, so how can they have a bank account? And they're not teaching the children how to spend any money because they're spending whatever they have -- whether it be on food or on things that are ... self-destructive," Mitts said.

"There are children who ... don't want to be like their parents. They want something better. They know their parents are headed down the wrong way. This program is gonna allow them to learn at an early age, what [does] it mean to save. You can't go to the store and buy candy with everything you have. But, if you save a little, you'll be able to at least go get you a pair of socks, some gloves."