Finance
Brevard’s school board set to adopt Dave Ramsey’s Christian-based financial curriculum
Dave Ramsey’s courses discuss how to save money in a God-honoring way.
Following in the footsteps of other districts around the state, Brevard Public Schools is set to approve Dave Ramsey’s Christian-based financial curriculum for high schoolers at Tuesday’s board meeting.
The course is meant to “help students avoid loans and other money traps” and give them “the secure future they deserve,” according to Ramsey’s website.
Despite the curriculum being built on an evangelical Christian worldview and how to honor God with your money, the text was approved for use in Florida public schools in 2023 by the state board of education.
Pasco County’s school board unanimously approved the curriculum in 2023 despite reviewers saying the textbook was “riddled with problems” and included quotes from Scripture to back up key points, according to a report by WUSF. Ramsey’s website doesn’t say how many other districts in Florida use the curriculum. FLORIDA TODAY reached out for clarification but received no response.
Brevard’s school board will vote on whether or not to approve it on Tuesday at the 5:30 p.m. meeting, according to the agenda published on the district’s website. Members of the public can comment ahead of the vote.
Who is Dave Ramsey?
Ramsey, the founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions — a company that provides financial undefined services with a Biblical-based worldview — is a personal finance expert and host of “The Ramsey Show” podcast. According to his website, he fought his way out of bankruptcy and millions of dollars in debt, then set out to change the “toxic money culture” and provide a Bible-based financial curriculum for people from all walks of life.
The legitimacy of his financial advice has been debated for more than 10 years, with a Reuters article from 2013 calling his investing advice that of a “financial illiterate.” The article adds that his advice is targeted toward people who generally won’t be able to afford to invest in the ways he suggests anyway. He offers encouragement to save money, though doesn’t excel at explaining how to do so, critics said.
What does Ramsey’s curriculum cover?
“Foundations in Personal Finance” is a high school curriculum that covers topics such as budgeting and saving, avoiding debt, investing and more. The curriculum includes a textbook, as well as videos with finance experts and online student activities.
It was approved by the Florida Department of Education for the 2023-2024 school year for the Florida high school course Personal Finance and Money Management, as well as its honors counterpart.
Is Dave Ramsey’s curriculum approved by Florida’s board of education?
Ramsey’s book was on The Florida Department of Education’s list of approved materials for the 2023-2024 school year. The list of approved materials for the 2025-2026 school year is still being finalized.
Ramsey’s website says the material in “Foundations in Personal Finance” and “Foundations in Economics and Personal Finance” meets the requirements for two different Florida high school courses and claims that 45% of schools in the United States use the Foundations curriculum.
How did Brevard pick Dave Ramsey’s curriculum?
The recommendation to use Ramsey’s book came from Brevard’s Personal Finance Review Team and community members who reviewed the books at Viera Middle School in October, according to the district’s website. The book was also available to view for feedback online from Sept. 20 through Nov. 18, with feedback shared with the District Review Team.
What does Florida’s personal financial literacy course teach?
Florida’s Personal Financial Literacy course is designed to introduce students to concepts including the American economic system, personal and family management of resources and income, money management, saving and investing, spending and credit, consumer information and taxation, financial planning and the role of financial institutions, according to the Florida Department of Education.
It became a required class for high schoolers during the 2023-2024 school year, when a financial literacy course law signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis took effect.
According to the Council for Economic Education, in 2024, 35 states required students to take a course in personal finance to graduate from high school.
Can parents choose another curriculum?
If the school board approves the curriculum at the Tuesday school board meeting, Brevard County residents can contest the selection within 30 days. For any petitions received within this timeframe, the school board will be required to hold at least one public hearing before an “unbiased and qualified hearing officer” who cannot be an employee of the district, according to their website. Petitioners must be given an opportunity to present their issue with the curriculum. The school board’s decision after the hearing is final.
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at fwalker@floridatoday.com. X: @_finchwalker.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has conformed to expectations and decided to lift the official cash rate. It is the third successive interest rate hike this year as the bank tries to suppress expectations of runaway price inflation in the economy and subsequent wage increases.
The RBA opted for a standard 0.25 hike, which takes the official cash rate to 4.35 per cent. After hikes in February and March, it now completely erases all the rate cuts following the hiking cycle in response to Covid-driven inflation.
The official cash rate last sat at 4.35 per cent 16 months ago.
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The hike in March was a close call, with five Board members in favour and four against. This time, it was a very different story.
Only one Board member voted to hold rates steady today, with eight voting for the hike.
“There are early signs that many firms experiencing cost pressures are looking to increase prices of their goods and services. Short-term measures of inflation expectations have also risen,” the RBA Board warned in its accompanying Monetary Policy Statement on Tuesday afternoon.
“Developments in the Middle East are having an impact on inflation. Higher fuel prices are adding to inflation and there are indications that this is likely to have second-round effects on prices for goods and services more broadly. This inflation impulse is in addition to the high inflation recorded around the start of 2026, reflecting capacity pressures in the economy.”
The RBA pointed to huge uncertainty in the Middle East and said a protracted conflict would mean inflation will likely get worse before it gets better.
“A longer or more severe conflict could put further upward pressure on global energy prices; this would push up near-term inflation and could also increase inflation further out as these costs are passed through,” it said, adding this scenario risks price rises getting “built into longer term inflation expectations”.
“Higher prices and prolonged uncertainty may cause growth to be lower in Australia’s major trading partners and also in Australia,” the statement said.
That confluence of factors has some economists worried about us entering into a period of stagflation.
Average mortgage holder paying $3,200 more
Today’s hike will take the average owner-occupier variable home loan rate to 6.26 per cent.
Why did you choose to attend Bentley?
I wanted to find a school that allowed me to combine both business and language.
I grew up working in my family’s restaurants in Western Mass., so I have been surrounded by business from an early age. As I got older and started working more intensely in this environment, I developed a real passion for the ins-and-outs of business.
On top of that, my grandparents are Chinese immigrants, so the Chinese culture has always played a big role in my life. Since I studied Mandarin Chinese starting in kindergarten, the ability to continue that at college was non-negotiable. When I toured Bentley, it all clicked and felt as though I’d be able to pursue all my interests to their fullest extent.
What stood out about the Language, Culture and Business major, and Finance minor?
What really drew me to Bentley’s Language, Culture and Business major was that it wasn’t just language studies — it also highlighted global perspectives and how to adapt to a highly globally connected business environment. At the same time, I was interested in the analytical and strategic side of business, which led me to the Finance minor.
Together, I believe they allow me to approach business problems and solutions from both a quantitative and human-centered perspective. My finance background gives me the technical foundation to analyze performance and then make strategic decisions, while Language, Culture and Business has helped me understand the people and environment that those decisions impact.
Are there specific Bentley professors or classes that helped you connect the dots between finance and culture?
Yes, several of the required courses for my Language, Culture and Business major really helped me understand how cultural context influences economic behavior, negotiation styles and decision-making. Pairing these skills with my finance courses allowed me to think more critically about how financial strategies play out in global markets and where cultural nuances can directly impact outcomes.
If I were to choose what course has impacted my choices the most, I would say Chinese for Business I (MLCH 201) and Chinese for Business II (MLCH 208) taught by Fei Yu, assistant professor of Modern Languages. I thoroughly enjoyed taking these courses because they made me realize that language can be applied to so many industries and made my aspirations to work internationally seem possible and within reach. I also gained important skills such as interview skills and resume skills.
At Bentley, there’s a strong culture of encouraging students to explore multiple interests and see how they connect for future careers.
Were there other campus experiences that helped blend your cultural and business interests?
Yes — being involved in organizations such as the Women’s Leadership Program and the Bentley Dance Team helped me work with diverse groups of people and develop strong interpersonal skills. Additionally, studying abroad in Florence, Italy, made me comfortable with change and sparked a new fire to continue learning about cultures other than my own.
It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, does it? Someone decides to go to war, the oil stops flowing, prices go up and our economy starts shutting down.
The best response we can come up with is to raise interest rates, to dampen demand a little more. As if doubling the price of petrol won’t do that enough.
Problem is, raising interest rates only hurts people with mortgages and renters, typically not high on the wealth ladder. People with no debt get more money, and will spend it. And the rising interest rates hurt the businesses that have already been hit. Just when we want to raise supply.
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Besides interest rates, standard macroeconomic thinking is there’s only one other lever. We could reduce net government spending, which is hard to do when you’ve just cut taxes on diesel and petrol, which will fuel demand just when you don’t want that to happen.
But there may be a third way. To our collective credit, Australia has set up what many regard as the world’s best superannuation system. As at December 2025, we had close to $4.5 trillion set aside for our futures. And, every hour of every day, 12% of our income is added to the pile.
It’s been suggested that the super guarantee levy might be used as the third ‘lever’ to modulate the economy, in addition to fiscal and monetary policy.
This was actually one of the arguments used when the levy was introduced back in 1992. Instead of giving workers a wage rise, which might trigger wage-inflation, Bill Kelty and Paul Keating negotiated a compulsory savings scheme. Workers would benefit, but not immediately.
Perhaps it’s worth revisiting that negotiation. Say you want to set the levy at 12% over the long term. When times are tough you might put the 12% rate down a little to stimulate the economy. Instead of a $100 wage and $12 in super, people get $102 for now and $10 for later. We get through.
Or, when inflation is running you might nudge the 12% up a little to constrain demand. The extra isn’t paid by business. Instead of the $100 wage and $12 in super, people get $98 for now and $14 for later. Given the cost of living crisis, maybe the lever only cuts in above a certain income.
This would arguably be fairer, easier and more effective than the interest rate sledgehammer. It would inject or remove the same amount of money from the economy. But the pain is spread, people keep their own money rather than paying it to the banks, and businesses aren’t hit by higher interest rates just when you want them to invest in their capacity.
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