California lawmakers announced Thursday that students would have to complete a course in wallet economics, including how to balance a checkbook, manage credit cards and avoid fraud, to graduate from high school under a bill that will soon become law.

“We need to help Californians prepare for their financial future as soon as possible,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “Saving, investing and spending wisely for the future are lifelong skills that young people need to develop before they enter the workforce, not after.”

The bill mandates that school districts and charter schools offer a stand-alone, one-semester course on personal finance, drawing criticism from those who worry it's another requirement on already-packed academic schedules. To meet the requirement, the class cannot be combined with other courses starting in the 2027-28 school year.

Students graduating in 2031 must pass this class.

The agreement among state lawmakers would avoid voters having to decide at the ballot box. Supporters of the new requirements call the proposed requirements ” California Personal Finance InitiativeThey plan to kill that effort on the November ballot.

The new requirement and the bill that would enact it into law “will benefit countless future generations of Californians,” said Tim Lanzetta, a wealthy Silicon Valley businessman who helped gather signatures for the ballot initiative and supported the bill.

The legal deadline for Lanzetta to withdraw his ballot proposal was Thursday, but the governor said he would withdraw it once he was assured the proper proposal would become law.

“I want to thank all of the people who helped get this bill enacted,” Lanzetta said.

Lanzetta is president of Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit that provides free curriculum and teacher training and says the materials have reached about 100,000 teachers across the U.S., including more than 6,000 in California.

While there is widespread agreement about the importance of financial literacy, not everyone supports the requirement or the process that brought it about.

“We have a philosophical objection to voting for government: it allows billionaires to use their wealth to exert a disproportionate influence on school curriculum decisions,” said Troy Flint, chief information officer for the California School Boards Association. “We don't believe it's the best system.”

He said financial literacy could have been incorporated into an existing one-semester required economics course.

“Financial literacy instruction could be integrated into existing larger economics courses without further disrupting high school students' class schedules, and this new bill would reduce high school students' ability to take electives or courses that interest them.”

The final version of the bill seeks to address this concern. Legislative AnalysisAllow students to take a personal finance course in lieu of the currently required one-semester economics course.

Former Los Angeles Superintendent of Schools Austin Buettner also expressed concern: “What are we going to cut to make time for financial literacy?”

“It's more important for kids to have a foundation in reading, writing and math before they get to high school,” he said. “If they have that, there is very little mystery to personal finance.”

The bill was introduced by Rep. Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento). Not everyone was on board with it from the start: McCarty introduced a similar bill last year with an amendment to make financial literacy an optional component of economics classes, which was already in place. Lanzetta withdrew his support for that bill, and even the watered-down version never passed.

The bill's fate this time around was determined by support from the governor and the majorities in both chambers.

“Financial literacy is a critical tool that provides benefits throughout one's life,” said Senate President Mike McGuire (D-North Coast). “There is a wealth of data on the benefits of learning these valuable lessons during high school, from improved credit scores and reduced default rates to improving the likelihood that future generations will maintain a three-month emergency savings balance and have at least one type of retirement account.”

“Ensuring that students have the skills and knowledge to succeed is paramount to California's continued success,” said State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas).

Separately, California lawmakers recently added ethnic studies courses to their list of required courses.

The minimum requirement for graduation is three years English And two MathIncludes one year of algebra. ScienceThree subjects including biology and physics Social studies2 years of P.E., 1 year Visual or performing arts, World Languagesor vocational technical education.

There are additional requirements if students are applying to a four-year state university, and selective colleges carefully evaluate the rigor of a student's advanced coursework. Individual school districts often have their own additional requirements as well.

Colleen Ankrill, a high school teacher in Los Angeles, said her school is incorporating financial literacy into its advisory program, which is similar to the old-fashioned homeroom. “Adding a course to all the other required courses is a scheduling challenge,” she said. “Financial literacy should be built in from grade school onwards. There will also be outreach to accounting firms.” [is] In fact, it's a better idea.”

“It's a great idea, but difficult to execute,” says Los Angeles parent Beth Owen. “The graduation requirements are already cumbersome enough that at the end students often realize they're missing something and have to scramble to get it done… Electives are often annual courses, like band, and dropping something like that for just one semester doesn't work, or something that's a worthwhile yearlong commitment, like leadership or the yearbook.”

Los Angeles-area parent Eileen Ruczynski said she was “shocked” that her ninth-grader son had almost no opportunities to take electives. “It leaves absolutely no room for him to try anything new, which is what electives are supposed to do. It may seem like a small thing, but where's the fun in school?”

But the push for financial literacy appears to be growing: The number of states that guarantee personal financial education for high school students has increased to 26, up from eight in 2021, according to Lanzetta's organization. Tracking issues.

In a previous analysis, the Champlain College Financial Literacy Center I gave California an F. The topic states, “Personal finance, either as a stand-alone course or incorporated into other courses, is not included in graduation requirements, and schools are not required to offer financial literacy courses.”

The researchers commended the California Department of Education for providing “an extensive list of financial literacy resources.”

In addition, the state CalMoneySmart The program provides grants of up to $200,000 per year to nonprofit organizations that provide financial education and financial empowerment programs and services to unbanked and underbanked Californians.

a A report from consulting firm Tyton Partners They concluded that California students could gain $127,000 in lifetime benefits from taking a one-semester personal finance course in high school, but these numbers are difficult to prove and ultimately abstract from the real-world experiences of young people.