The Link Between Wall St and Pubic Education
It's hard to imagine two entities that could be further apart than Wall St and public education. But an internet financial newsletter recently showed the link that COULD exist between the two when it stated:
"It’s a shame, that much of what is offered here (referring to their newsletter)– at no charge – is not taught in the public schools. Why is it that you can graduate in the top of your high school class and know next to nothing about credit card debt, adjustable-rate mortgages, or 401(k)s?"
Should financial literacy be a core part of everyone education?
Certainly a case could be made for this position. But recent history teaches us that public education is increasingly burdened with an unending list of assignments. Anytime a problem comes up in society--whether it be homicide, suicide, HIV, obesity--the public school is given the charge of creating a curriculum to deal with the problem.
No single institution, particularly one with restricted funding, could possibly meet this diversity of demands. The end result is that the "three R's" --or more accurately--the key academic skills such as literacy, mathematics and science inevitably suffer. When this happens, as it has been happening over the past several decades, the children and the nation pay a heavy price.
