BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 166
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 166 (Roger Hernandez) - As Amended: April 1, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to ensure
financial literacy, including but not limited to, budgeting and
managing credit, student loans, and debt is integrated into the
curriculum frameworks for social sciences, health, and
mathematics at their next revisions.
FISCAL EFFECT
Under current law, both the SBE and Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) are required to ensure financial preparedness
information is included in specified curriculum. This measure
would change the term to "financial literacy" and require more
specific curriculum to be included. To the extent these
requirements would lead to additional workload, there would be
minor GF administrative costs, likely less than $75,000, to the
State Department of Education (SDE).
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . A 2010 survey conducted by VISA reveals 93% of
Americans believe all high school students should be required
to take a class in financial education. While a few states
have adopted varying degrees of financial literacy curricula,
currently only four states require high school students to
take a semester-long course in personal finance.
The author contends the economic crises over the last few
years, including the housing crisis, have underlined the need
for individuals to gain more financial literacy education. In
particular, he believes K-12 students should be taught
AB 166
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financial literacy education in schools.
2)Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) with the approval of the SBE, to develop a one-semester
consumer economics course for grades 7-12. The course must
include personal banking, basic contracts, using consumer
purchasing guides, uses and costs of credit, types and costs
of insurance, and types of taxation. Statute also requires a
student to complete a one-semester course in economics, among
other requirements, to be eligible for a high school diploma.
Current law also requires the SBE to ensure curriculum
frameworks in the social sciences, health, and mathematics to
include information on financial preparedness.
3)Need for the bill . Current law requires the SPI to make
existing financial preparedness curriculum available to
teachers in grades 7-12, using materials that are currently
available at no cost. In April 2012, the SPI launched an
initiative to "provide schools, teachers, students and parents
with access to supplemental resources that can help students
develop a keen understanding of responsible money management
and increase their overall financial literacy." The SDE is
partnering with financial institutions, consumer groups, and
other government agencies in this effort."
Specifically, SDE has provided links to various websites that
offer financial literacy information, including curriculum, to
be used in K-12 schools. The information is accessible by the
public and can be accessed by teachers.
Given the SPI's efforts and current law related to financial
preparedness, the need for this measure is unclear.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081