Wright State University’s Director for Center of Economic Education Addresses Governor’s Forum

D.R. Fannin, Director of the Raj Soin College of Business’s Center for Economic Education, outlined solutions for improving personal financial literacy for Ohio’s high school students in a forum convened by Governor Ted Strickland’s Office on the Closing the Gap Initiative on September 15. The Governor’s Office invited Fannin to address over 30 learning coordinators from throughout Ohio.
The Personal Financial Literacy program was initially created to train teachers in the state of Ohio to teach their high school students about the importance of personal financial responsibility. However, the success of this program is leading to the training of state learning coordinators as well. These learning coordinators will be placed in schools that are deemed at-risk, typically in urban, Appalachian, and migrant areas, where less than 80% of students are passing the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). They will be mentors for the students by teaching essential life skills that include personal financial literacy. By focusing on schools where students have the least amount of  financial literacy, the state hopes to improve OGT passage rates and enhance the students’  and their family’s financial stability. 
Wright State’s Center for Economic Education is a leading partner in achieving this goal.   Fannin has been working with the Ohio Attorney General, the Treasurer of State and the Ohio Department of Education since 2006 with the passage of Ohio Senate Bill 311 to develop the Personal Financial Literacy curriculum.  The legislation mandates that personal financial literacy be taught to students in grades 9-12, and specifically names the Centers for Economic Education in the legislation.
“It’s all about making economics relatable to the students’ everyday lives,” Fannin says. “The curriculum is intended to teach the children to value education, to understand all aspects of managing credit and in general to develop sound decision making skills.  To date, our Center has trained and over 250 teachers to reach and inspire their students with these essential life skills and the basics of financial responsibility which is lacking in today’s society.”
The seven Centers for Economic Education in Ohio have worked collaboratively with the state legislative offices to develop the program. They have attracted national and regional recognition due to the success of the program over the past four years that addresses the shortcomings of the personal financial literacy rate in our society.
To learn more about Wright State University’s Center for Economic Education in the Raj Soin College of Business, contact Kim Woodbury 937-775-2812  kim.woodbury@wright.edu or visit the website http://www.wright.edu/academics/cee/