An Act To Promote the Financial Literacy of High School Students

Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §1, sub-§20-B  is enacted to read:

Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §4722, sub-§2, ¶C,  as enacted by PL 1983, c. 859, Pt. C, §§5 and 7, is amended to read:

Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §6209, sub-§1-A, ¶B,  as enacted by PL 2007, c. 259, §5, is amended to read:

Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §6209, sub-§2, ¶¶G and H,  as enacted by PL 1995, c. 649, §1, are amended to read:

Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §6209, sub-§2, ¶I  is enacted to read:

Sec. 6. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2014.

SUMMARY

Current law requires the Commissioner of Education to develop a program of technical assistance that promotes the importance of financial literacy and encourages school administrative units to implement an integrated model for instruction in personal finance that may be used in secondary schools as part of the instruction in social studies or mathematics.

This bill amends the system of learning results to require each student to study and become proficient in personal finance, including instruction in purchasing, using credit, budgeting, saving and investing, banking, simple contracts, state and federal income taxes, personal insurance policies and renting or purchasing a home. The bill takes effect beginning with the 2014-2015 school year and requires all secondary schools to include the personal finance course as part of the mathematics instruction required to obtain a high school diploma.