High school is one of the last places students have a chance to acquire financial skills before they face some of the biggest financial decisions of their lives, including whether to go to college, whether to accept credit card offers, whether to rent or purchase a home, and how much to save as they marry and begin families.
Unfortunately, there exists a dire need for improving our society's personal finance skills. Americans have a negative personal savings rate, personal spending is up, the average national household is not adequately saving for retirement, and young people lack a general understanding of basic money management.
A previous opinion poll showed that 81 percent of parents want personal finance taught in school. With that in mind, I would like to bring attention to a new program being made available to the public high schools in our area, the Brass Student Program, which helps young adults learn responsible money management.
This program comes at no cost to schools or taxpayers — Wisconsin's 260 member-owned credit unions are providing the Brass Student Program free to all of our public high schools statewide.
The Brass Student Program itself has many components, but consists primarily of a lifestyle money magazine called Brass, whose appeal stems from its young adult focus. Articles mix popular culture and interesting stories with practical personal finance concepts students need. The program also includes free online teaching resources, including classroom activities supporting state teaching standards, and credit union scholarships for students.
By helping support financial education initiatives like the Brass Student Program, we are all helping to make the future of our youth much brighter.
Rep. Roger Roth
Grand Chute, WI