Maryland Education Bulletin: News from the Maryland State Department of Education January 30th, 2009 STATE LEGISLATORS PRESS FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY STANDARDS Three members of the Maryland General Assembly met with the State Board this week to advocate for a strengthened financial literacy curriculum in Maryland schools. Del. Dana Stein, Del. Susan Krebs, and Sen. Katherine Klausmeier, said that the current recession has made it clear that Americans need to learn more about the economy and personal finance. As members of the Task Force to Study How to Improve Financial Literacy in the State, they believe Maryland needs to develop and adopt new standards for K-12 personal financial literacy. “This is a very basic life skill, especially in light of the current economic times,” Del. Stein said. “We feel this is an urgent issue.” Del. Krebs noted that the Carroll County Schools have added personal finance as a graduation requirement, and said the program has been both well-received and inexpensive to implement. Board member Richard Goodall said he understood the importance of financial literacy. However, he was concerned about adding new requirements for students and new duties for MSDE. “We may need to come back to you and ask which programs you want us to keep,” he said. The State Board will study the recommendations from the Task Force over the next several weeks and report back on next steps.