There is an organization that believes that students should develop economic ways of thinking and problem solving that they can use in their lives as consumers, savers, investors, members of the workforce, responsible citizens and effective participants in the state, national, and global economy. That organization is the Nebraska Council on Economic Education.
The President of the Nebraska Council on Economic Education is Dr. Jennifer Davidson and the Associate Director is Matt Pierson. They both joined Mike Hogan on “Live & Local” for a hearty chat about the importance of individual financial literacy.
Turns out, Nebraska became one of only a handful of states in the country to require learning about personal finance in high school. The reasoning is that K-12 students should learn economics because they will make important decisions in their roles as workers/entrepreneurs, consumers, borrowers, savers, investors and voters. Their futures and the future of our economy and our democracy depend upon their making informed, reasoned decisions. Economics education shows them how to do that. During the interview, the point was brought up that we don't begin teaching other skills such as mathematics or reading in the 12th grade, so why would we do so with economic reasoning?
The longer, podcast version of this interview is at the top of the page, or if you are seeking the truncated version that aired on 91.5 FM, that one is at the bottom. If you are looking for more information or teaching resources, you can go to https://business.unl.edu/outreach/econ-ed/nebraska-council-on-economic-education/about-the-council/.
