New Mexico
Financial literacy coursework added as high school graduation requirement in New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 171 into law earlier this month. It adds personal financial literacy as a social studies coursework requirement and lets schools mandate it as a math requirement.
SANTA FE, N.M. — You may remember taking high school algebra, biology, maybe an elective like building trades or culinary arts.
Students these days even take classes on personal financial literacy. Legislation stipulates high schools must have it as an elective.
Now, it’s a high school graduation requirement.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 171 into law earlier this month. It adds personal financial literacy as a social studies coursework requirement and lets schools mandate it as a math requirement.
Charlie Bergman teaches personal financial literacy at St. John’s College in Santa Fe. He launched the course after teaching it to students at Albuquerque Academy.
“They’re psychologically ready for it. They do well, at it, they’re interested,” Bergman said.
The coursework he teaches in a college setting would translate to a high school classroom, with questions like:
“If I’m paying a 25% APR interest rate on a credit card, and I have a carryover debt that I haven’t paid off of $1,000. And I carry that for two years because I’m just not paying it off, how much do I owe?”
Bergman says he likes the new requirements but believes this is just the beginning.
St. John’s College offers $500 in an investment account for anyone who passes the final test in Bergman’s course.
Bergman believes legislators could implement something like that for high school students.
“Take part of the state budget and make an allocation to students who complete a really good financial literacy course as a reward. Then, that money could be managed for them by a trustee for the state for a while, but at some point in adulthood, they get control,” he offered.
Bergman is working with the New Mexico Public Education Department and financial institutions, like Nusenda Credit Union, to offer teacher workshops in the fall.
Read HB 171 below.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Hundreds of New Mexicans gathered in front of the courthouses in downtown Albuquerque on Sunday to protest the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Community organizers say they would like for more people to join the protests, which they hope will bring changes in New Mexico and the country.
“The more people that see us out here, the more people we can get out here, get these politics into their head, get this idea of we are actually on the same team against the billionaires,” said Shannon McKenna, one protester.
Protesters marched from the courthouses down Lomas through downtown, ending at Civic Center Plaza.
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