Celebrate Economic Education Month

With financial uncertainty facing families across America, high school students from coast to coast during October’s Economic Education Month will push educators and policymakers for equal access to the economic knowledge they need to thrive now and into their futures.

Student-focused and general Econ Ed Month advocacy toolkits from the Council for Economic Education (CEE) will help encourage legislators, school boards, school districts and other stakeholders to provide full access to the economic lessons young people need to make informed decisions throughout their lives.

Here’s the 411:

Only half the states currently mandate economics classes for graduation, according to CEE’s biennial Survey of
the States.

“The disparity in economic education threatens to leave millions of America’s high school students in the economic wilderness and also tends to deny life-shaping information to students of color and young people in less advantaged school districts,” said Nan J. Morrison, CEE president and CEO. “We’ve developed tools and events for Econ Ed Month in response to requests from students, families and educators who are urgently calling for economics curriculum to be equally available to all.”

Working with CEE state affiliates in Georgia, Nebraska and Oklahoma, CEE launched the first Economic Education Month in 2021. In addition to the new advocacy toolkits, this October features economics-focused weeks of action, classroom resources, professional development for teachers and a nationwide student video contest encouraging young people to answer, “How is economics part of my everyday life?” CEE and its affiliates are issuing calls for video contest submissions to teachers across the USA; winners will receive cash prizes.

Contest details:

Economic Education Month kicks off Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 with CEE’s 61st Financial Literacy & Economic Education Conference. This annual event offers workshops for K–12 educators who include economics and personal finance in their classes.

And on Oct. 6, CEE will feature the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Loretta J. Mester, in a live online discussion with Rebecca Patterson, CEE board chair and chief investment strategist for Bridgewater Associates. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System also is sponsoring a series of other economic education month activities.

More about the call to strengthen economic knowledge for every child in America is available at
EconEdMonth.org; join the conversation at #EconEdMonth

About the Council for Economic Education

The Council for Economic Education’s (CEE’s) mission is to equip K–12 students with the tools and knowledge of personal finance and economics so that they can make better decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities, and learn to successfully navigate in our ever-changing economy. We carry out our mission in three ways.  We advocate to require financial and economic education in every state. We provide training, tools and resources – online and live through over 180 affiliates nationwide – to more than 40,000 teachers annually who in turn bring the highest quality economics and personal finance instruction to over 4 million students. We deepen knowledge and introduce high school students to critical career capabilities through our national competitions and Invest in Girls program.

Media contact: 

CEE: press@staging.councilforeconed.org