By Joan Ballweg, State Senator

When you think of April, most people think of the seasons changing. From winter to spring, we hope April will bring warm weather and no more snow. This month, let’s not only think about the change in the temperature, but also the change we can bring for our kids.

April is Financial Literacy Month. Increasing financial literacy is important for students in Wisconsin. As a former first grade teacher, this is an issue I deeply care about, and I know it is important to many of you, too. In 2017, the legislature passed a bill requiring all schools to adopt a financial literacy or personal finance class. Since the adoption of this legislation, only 34 percent of students have taken the class available to them. Parents across the state have ranked a personal finance class as one of their top concerns for their children which is why I have continued to work on the important issue of increasing financial literacy. 

This session, I have introduced a new bill that will require all students to earn at least a half credit in a financial literacy or personal finance course before they graduate. This required class will teach students an assortment of personal financial literacy skills, including how to have a financial mindset, general education and financial literacy in employment, money management, the importance of saving, how to wisely invest, management of credit and debt, risk management and insurance.

This requirement, which will first apply to students graduating in 2028, is good for all students and is already being implemented in the state’s largest school district, Milwaukee Public Schools. Students will use what they learn in their financial literacy course to prepare themselves for a successful future. No matter where they go after they graduate, this requirement will give students tools they will be able to use in their everyday lives.

This bill, Senate Bill 115 and its companion Assembly Bill 109, have been referred to the Committee on Education in the Wisconsin State Senate and the Wisconsin State Assembly. The Assembly Committee on Education will be hearing the bill on April 20. I am hopeful this bill will pass in both houses of the legislature and that the governor will sign it into law.