As large urban school districts continue to operate with tight budgets and uncertain funding, an initiative in Prince George’s County Public Schools promises to help students prepare to be financially successful, thus contributing more fully to the economy in their communities and state.
Next Gen Personal Finance, the nation’s largest provider of free curriculum and professional development for personal finance teachers, has committed to supporting large urban school districts like Prince George’s County. Their Financial Empowerment and Equity (FEE) grants program will address inequities in education by committing $3 million to districts around the nation to enable more students of color to develop financial skills and knowledge.
“We want to help change the paradigm where large districts in our cities lack resources to develop comprehensive financial education programs,” says NGPF co-founder Tim Ranzetta. “Every day, we witness the heroic efforts of thousands of educators helping students develop new money habits and behaviors, and take what they learn into their homes to share with their parents.”
Susan Bistransin, a personal finance teacher at Parkdale High School for 25 years, will coordinate the program, her role being funded by NGPF’s Financial Empowerment and Equity grant. “We have gone from 15 teachers helping students learn about personal finance through an elective or a course with this subject embedded in it, to more than 60 teachers in the county’s 32 high schools teaching a mandated course.”
Bistransin notes that the mandate was initiated this fall, and the class of 2024 will be the first to have the course required for graduation.
Tori Mansfield, senior project manager at NGPF, has traveled the country and reports that teachers and students everywhere crave personal finance as a critically important and practical course in today’s world.
She says her organization initially will fund three-year grants in Milwaukee Public Schools (WI), Miami-Dade County Public Schools (FL), Prince George’s County Public Schools (MD), Clark County Public Schools (NV) and Denver Public Schools (CO).
The grants will range from $125,000 to $175,000 annually over three years, and will cover a position to manage the program in the district and all curriculum resources and professional development for teachers, says Mansfield.
Kommentare