Show me the money: Teachers, education experts advocate for financial literacy

Ligonier Valley financial literacy teacher Martin Hickey often hears from students about how his classes have impacted their lives, but one response from a former pupil sticks with him.

“One of the kids I had in my class, I happened to see him in the street … and he goes, ‘Thank you for helping me buy my first car,’ ” Hickey said. “He said it went great, (he) had some of my old notes, and (he) was asking about terms and all the jargon you taught us.

“He said it made it a really smooth process.”

Hickey has taught personal finance at Ligonier Valley for five years, but the program dates back about 15 years. All high schoolers are required to take the semester-­long class to graduate — an initiative that merited a visit from the state auditor general.

Through a statewide
“Be Money Smart” program,
Auditor General Timothy DeFoor visited Ligonier Valley and several other Pennsylvania districts to promote their financial literacy programs and advocate for personal finance education to be taught in more schools.

The program is one prong of a growing push for financial literacy education in Pennsylvania, culminating in a bill passed in the state Senate that now goes to the House for consideration. The legislation would mandate a half-semester financial literacy class for all high school students, beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

“We need to teach them how their money is spent, how to invest money and how to leverage money,” DeFoor said. “It became very clear to me that we need to start teaching our kids, our future, about financial literacy while they are still in schools.”

Personal finance curriculum

Eight different financial literacy courses are offered at Ligonier Valley. Through the mandatory personal finance course, students learn about budgeting, managing credit, savings and checking accounts, taxes, insurance and investing.

“The learners are excited to learn about this because they know this is going to impact their future,” Hickey said. “Learners today are willing to pay attention if they see a benefit to what they’re learning. They come to realize that financial literacy will help them and play a key role in their future financial decisions.”

Hickey’s goal is to empower students to be financially literate. The lessons prepare them for practical financial tasks and challenges, such as buying a car, paying for college, maintaining a credit score, or getting a home mortgage, he said.

For Abigail Mack, 18, a Ligonier Valley High School senior, the classes have offered a leg up on making major financial decisions.

She knew about details such as FDIC insurance and APR rates when opening a bank account because she learned about them in class. She was able to save money on a car purchase because of her knowledge about interest rates.

“I believe everyone should be taking a class like this,” Mack said. “I’ve taught my parents different things, which is a little bit of a shocker — I thought my mom knew everything — and my little sister has been asking me for help.”

Trajectory of financial literacy

Next Gen Personal Finance, a national nonprofit that promotes financial literacy education, tracks the presence and availability of similar classes across public schools nationwide.

According to Next Gen’s database, Avonworth, Keystone Oaks, Penn Hills, Riverview, South Park, Springdale and West Mifflin high schools in Allegheny County require students to complete a financial literacy class to graduate — what the nonprofit refers to as a “gold standard.” Across Pennsylvania as a whole, 98 schools meet this standard.

Next Gen co-founder and President Jessica Endlich, who grew up in Lower Burrell, thinks Pennsylvania is on a good trajectory with financial literacy. She said the bill that just passed the Senate is “very exciting.”

Even though not all schools require a finance class to graduate in Pennsylvania, a good portion — 327 schools — meet the “silver standard,” meaning they offer at least one personal finance elective class.

“That’s really promising in Pennsylvania,” Endlich said. “If the entire state were going to move towards ‘yes, this is going to be a priority for kids to graduate,’ it’s not going to be a huge lift.”

The pandemic and associated financial struggles have brought on an increased interest in financial education, she said.

“When things are a little tighter for everybody for a variety of reasons, it becomes more pressing that we give young people the tools and the knowledge to navigate the financial world,” she said. “There’s known sorts of issues of young people trying to make decisions about which college to attend, and can they afford college, and taking out debt that they might not understand, and that their parents might not understand. We should be giving kids the language and the knowledge.”

Students generally enjoy financial literacy classes, Endlich added.

“I was the principal of a high school, and what you really need is buy-in from the students that they want to be in school every day,” she said. “It helps tremendously that it’s a topic that students realize the value of and enjoy talking about and learning about.”

Making room for finance education

The focus on financial literacy has faded over time, said Jason Conway, Westmoreland Intermediate Unit executive director.

“There’s been so much emphasis on high-stakes testing that economics, aka financial literacy, and civics and government have taken a back seat,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re producing high school graduates that are not as knowledgeable as graduates 25 or 50 years (ago).”

In meetings with school superintendents in Westmoreland County, the group has discussed how to better offer financial literacy opportunities to students, Conway said.

“The focus has moved away from basic financial literacy skills, but it’s nice to see that it’s coming back, and we’re realizing that students are not getting what they need,” he said.

Pennsylvania education experts also are seeing growing interest in financial education. Amy Davis McShane, Career Ready PA lead and Western PA gifted liaison with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, works at the state level on updating the career education and work standards for schools.

A committee she was a part of sent recommendations to the state Board of Education this year to incorporate financial literacy into existing state standards. She expects to hear back this summer about the board’s next steps.

Financial education in practice

At Allegheny Valley School District’s Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School, Andrew Tsangaris teaches a personal finance course that became mandatory about 10 years ago. He wishes that a class like this had been available to him when he was a student.

Current events, such as recent bank collapses and the ongoing struggles with inflation, make their way into Tsangaris’ curriculum. Students read and research coverage of the economy at the same time they learn the practical side of filing taxes.

“At 18, being an adult, there’s not a lot of room for error — you’re on your own,” Tsangaris said. “When the seniors come back with the financial aid letters and they start looking at those numbers, it’s a sticker shock. I think sometimes they don’t realize until they get to college.”

Jim Knapp, a retired school counselor and former Trinity Area School District board member who worked with Tsangaris at Bethel Park, described mandatory financial literacy education as “a monumental thing that needs to be done in the state of Pennsylvania.”

“I really believe that now is the time to make it happen, especially after covid,” he said. “Education could change tremendously right now if we could allow it.”

At Riverview Jr./Sr. High School, Patsy Kvortek taught her personal finance class for six years before pushing to make it mandatory. She succeeded, and the two-semester course has been required since 2015.

Kvortek uses her own life experiences as a homeowner and landlord as examples in class, showing copies of leases and rental policies as well as photos from times she and her family have needed to use car or home insurance. Students’ parents who work in the finance world also have presented to the class.

“I use a lot of real-life situations and stories, so that it is meaningful to them, so that they can hopefully say, ‘I am going to have to do this sometime in my life, and boy am I glad that I have a foundation,’ ” she said. “I absolutely love teaching it, I’m passionate about it, and I’m so happy that I’m able to reach young people at a young age and put them on the right track financially.”

At the end of class each year, Kvortek gives each student a dollar bill as a symbol that she is investing in them and their futures. How they use the dollar is up to them..

“Some kids still have that dollar,” she said. “They’ll take a picture of their wallet, and the dollar is still in there.”