Last year's Stock Market Game winners with   teacher Larry Stockslager, Williamsport High. Photo: Maryland Coalition for Financial Literacy

Dollars and sense

TU-based coalition is involved in a statewide

effort to produce money-savvy children

By Jan Lucas

The Maryland Coalition for Financial Literacy is the go-to place for K-12 teachers seeking advice on financial-literacy programs, says managing director Allen Cox. 

Now in its fifth year, the TU-Based MCFL continues its quest to make financial literacy a requirement in every public school system in Maryland.

Cox, a retired social-studies teacher, says the need for financial education is tremendous—and growing.

“I’ve heard of college students who have had to drop out and find jobs to repay thousands of dollars in credit-card debt,” he says. “They should have learned about the perils of credit-card debt before they got to college.”

As National Financial Literacy Month drew to a close, Cox was working with Howard County Public Schools to provide 10th-grade government teachers with financial-literacy training materials. The teachers plan to teach personal finance during the two-and-a-half week gap between Maryland’s government assessment test and the end of the academic year.

Included in MCFL’s training materials are lessons about credit, saving and investing, and identity theft and fraud. Because the coalition is privately funded, mostly by banks, credit unions, credit-counseling services and other financial institutions, everything is free of charge.

MCFL is also working with public school systems in Baltimore City and Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Charles, Dorchester, Harford, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s, and Talbot counties.

In addition to providing curricular materials and guidance, MCFL recently hosted two academic competitions, the Economics Challenge and Personal Finance Challenge. “We want to recognize the kids who learn it and the teachers who teach it,” says Cox. The coalition also sponsors the annual awards program which recognizes the Stock Market Game winners. This year's program will be held on on May 28.  

“We’re talking to lots of other schools, too,” adds Cox, who says he hopes to add Cecil County to the list of MCFL-affiliated school systems. “We take a system-by-system approach—each is different and has different needs—then we tailor our curricula to address specific needs.”

Cox is working with the Maryland State Department of Education, which has contracted with the University of Arizona to develop a voluntary state curriculum in personal resource management. He says teachers would download lessons directly from a Web site, then use them to teach personal finance concepts.

“We’re going to be trained in this first,” says Cox, “then work with the school systems that want to use this material.

“However, we may end up doing some teacher-training ourselves.”

Cox says MCFL is becoming the go-to place for schools wanting to address this growing need. “We’re not trying to sell anything,” Cox emphasizes. “Our position is, “Here’s what you need to know—we’re here to help.”

[back to main article index]