It was 1903. The ink was dry and the deal was done. A $100 million donation from the wealthy Rockefeller family’s General Education Board was set to shift the priorities of the American education system for decades.
The intent was to create workers for jobs in agriculture and manufacturing. Sounds good – but there was one big problem.
They weren’t interested in raising up scholars who could think critically, build wealth, manage money, or become future investors. No, instead they wanted a curriculum that only emphasized job preparedness, obedience, and conforming to rules!
Which brings us to the troubling school curriculum dilemma we now wrestle with today.
Are school stakeholders interested in returning personal finance lessons to classrooms?
One former New Jersey school teacher, Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche, along with New Jersey assemblywoman Angela V. McKnight and lieutenant governor Sheila Oliver, recently proved it could be done.
In 2019, Aliche and McKnight co-authored and sponsored a bill that would legally mandate all public school 6th through 8th graders in their state study subjects such as debt, credit cards, investing, saving and budgeting! It went into effect this year.
We have to prioritize the financial literacy of Black students so they can be prepared for success in adult money matters. And as we do so, let us look to these Black women as examples of how to get it done!