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California high school students may have an additional course added to the eight that are needed to graduate. These courses, such as the ethnic studies requirement passed in 2021, all entered the school curriculum at the direction of the State Board of Education. This proposed new requirement — a financial literacy class — may end up on high school schedules at the direction of voters.

The effort to put financial literacy education into California high schools has been decades-long, with various lawmakers trying and failing to make the class a requirement. One nonprofit seeks success by placing the question on a ballot measure this November. If passed, it would be the first time that curriculum requirements were established at the direction of voters.

Polls show overwhelming popular support for adding financial literacy to high school curriculum, but some educators and researchers are nervous about the implications of bypassing the existing process of deciding what and how things are taught in California classrooms.

The two roads to financial literacy in schools

There are two intertwined efforts to implement one semester of financial literacy in high schools statewide by 2030, requiring districts to start offering classes in fall 2026. The first is Assembly Bill 2927, recently introduced by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento.

In the case that the bill does not make it through the Legislature, Californians may have the opportunity to approve the same curriculum via popular vote. The California Personal Finance Act received nearly 700,000 signatures of support, making it eligible to be placed on the ballot this year.

Each effort seeks the same financial literacy graduation requirement. The class would teach students the basics of personal finance, including developing budgeting skills, understanding the tax system and managing loans and lines of credit.

McCarty’s bill is not the first piece of legislation attempting to establish financial literacy as a requirement; over a dozen similar bills have died or been vetoed in the past couple decades. This is why McCarty is also supporting the ballot measure to put financial literacy in high school classrooms.

If passed, Personal Finance Act would represent the first time California has established curriculum via popular. And what is done by a ballot measure can only be undone by a ballot measure.

“It’s our hope that the bill will be the final deal and the measure will not have to go on the ballot,” McCarty said.

If the bill is not successful, financial literacy has a good chance of making it into classrooms anyway. The measure has no formal opposition; polls in support have proved overwhelmingly positive and California for Financial Education, the coalition supporting the measure, blew past their valid signature goal by nearly 100,000 signatures.

“I’m optimistic that this is going to be law,” McCarty said.

Should California leave curriculum decisions to the experts?

But some experts are concerned about the implementation of such a requirement, and even more so about passing off a complicated policy decision to the voters of California. Heather J. Hough, executive director of Policy Analyst for California Education, is skeptical both of increasing the number of state-mandated graduation requirements and of taking choices that would be made by experienced policymakers and putting them into the hands of voters, who may not consider the broader effects of approving specific curriculum.

“I think that decisions about what to teach and how to teach it are not ideal decisions that go to voters — those are decisions, at least in the way it’s done in California, that are made locally and through policymaking bodies with professional knowledge,” Hough said.

Typically, the Instruction Quality Commission develops curriculum which is subject to a series of reviews, edits and public discussion and then goes to the State Board of Education for approval. Sometimes, curriculum changes are driven by the Legislature via Assembly bills, like the recent ethnic studies requirement. Local school districts also have the authority to develop their own curriculum and graduation requirements.

Teaching financial literacy to high school students may be well-intentioned, but a policymaker must consider implementation.

“I think part of how I always come at questions of policy is not just is this policy a good idea, because many things we talk about are on their face good ideas, but how this policy is implemented and how this policy puts pressure on existing strains on the system,” Hough said.

In the case of adding financial literacy as a graduation requirement, Hough sees several potential snags. For one, with the recent addition of an ethnic studies graduation requirement and talks of a computer science graduation requirement, students could face increasingly bloated schedules that leave little room for electives, career technical education pathways or other programs that appeal to them personally. On a local level, districts must spend money and time coordinating master schedules, training or hiring staff to teach the course and possibly developing their own curriculum. This could be a major problem amid a statewide teacher shortage.

Approving this curriculum also takes away flexibility from school districts in assessing what coursework would most engage and benefit their respective student populations. California is also facing a major chronic absenteeism problem, increasing twofold in under a decade. Constraining schools too much in terms of class requirements can make it difficult for them to be flexible enough to meet student needs, Hough said.

Hough is not alone in her concern. Other education experts have pointed out that voters of California already have the civil power to support politicians who reflect their interests and to engage directly with school districts and curriculum.

“It’s a very blunt instrument and I’m not sure it will accomplish what people want it to,” Hough said.

Tim Ranzetta, the lead proponent of the ballot initiative, believes that the value of financial literacy for students is enough to justify such an unconventional method of implementation. Ranzetta is a co-founder of Next Gen Personal Finance, a nonprofit that provides free financial literacy curriculum and training to 100,000 educators nationwide. Next Gen isn’t just seeking to establish a one-semester requirement in California by 2030, but in all 50 states as part of its Mission 2030 plan.

“For whatever reason, the legislature has considered financial education bills for upwards of two decades and yet here we stand as one of the worst in the nation,” Ranzetta said. “It’s important to note that while the course will be required, the expectation is that local districts will decide where this fits within existing graduation requirements and will decide what curriculum to use. This initiative will not require a specific curriculum to be used which is an important point.”