Did you know that 42% of highschools in the saint public school district have no access to a personal finance class. The rest only offer economic classes with minimal personal finance content. It seems wrong and unacceptable that students are expected to take the wheel of their financial life with little to no requirements of learning about how to manage and be responsible with their finances.

Think of these current facts:

• Only 1 in 5 students are guaranteed to take personal finance classes before graduation
• Only 8 states (Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina,Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia) guarantee at least one semester course in personal finance before graduation
• 1 in 3 students have no access to a personal finance class even as an elective

Students who take a personal finance course in high school are:

• More likely to have “better than average” credit scores in their 20s
• 21% less likely to carry a balance on a credit card while in college

• Submit the FAFSA 3.5% times more often
• 13% less likely to use subsidized student loans when attending post-secondary education program
• More likely to make financial decisions that allow them to save, purchase and maintain housing, and budget for basic needs, making them less dependent on government resources
• 76% of recent high school graduates said they wished their school placed more emphasis on personal finance
• 83% of parents said they wanted their schools to do more to raise financially capable adults.

Based on these statistics we feel that Saint Paul city schools should offer a personal finance class to all high school students. In our Personal finance class at Focus Beyond Transition services, taught by Mary Fran Schwartz, our class learned that not offering personal finance courses negatively affects future generations by increasing their chances of being in debt. This lack of personal finance knowledge negatively affects local economies because people who make smarter financial decisions are less dependent on government assistance programs.

We, the signers of this petition, request that Saint Paul Public Schools offer a 1 semester personal finance course as a required or elective credit for all high school students.

We are hoping to receive 1,000 signatures to give to the school board and chair members to show that Saint Paul’s community supports the effort to help further educate students beyond the Minnesota required courses.