Today's poll: Should schools be required to teach personal finance literacy?
06.15.2011 | HOLYOKE - An early morning jogger at the Holyoke High School track.The Forecast
Waves of fog swept over Holyoke this morning just as the world was struggling to gain color. The sun appeared here and there as a white disk, its warmth muted and its edges as sharp as the moon's on a clear night.But the fog won't stay long. ABC 40 / FOX 6 meteorologist Dan Brown writes:
A cool, gray start [...] will give way to sunshine and warmer temperatures. The strong, June sunshine will boost readings into the upper 70s with a few locations touching 80. Now that's more like it for this time of year. The pick of the week will likely be Thursday with full sunshine, warm temperatures and relatively low dew points.
In other weather news, ABC 40 / FOX 6 meteorologist Mike Masco posts today about news studies indicating that the sun may be entering a "quiet period".
Masco writes:
Scientists from the National Solar Observatory yesterday sent out a strong prediction that the weakening of the sun's magnetic field and a temporary disappearance of sunspots could occur by 2013. The consequences of this could send the world into a mini ice age similar to what we saw in the middle 1600’s which was coined the Maunder Minimum - a period in which brutal winters were felt with cold summers across the world.
Today's poll
Springfield State Rep. Benjamin Swan is among the petitioners for a bill that would implement "personal finance literacy" as part of the standard curriculum in Massachusetts schools.
Bill H01080 reads, in part:
To equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to become self-supporting and to enable students to make critical decisions regarding personal finances, the department of elementary and secondary education shall authorize and assist in the implementation of curriculum on personal financial literacy. The components of personal financial literacy covered in the curriculum shall include the following: understanding loans, borrowing money, interest, credit card debt, and online commerce; rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home; saving, investing and planning for retirement; banking and financial services; bankruptcy; balancing a checkbook; state and federal taxes; charitable giving; and identity theft and fraud.
The bill would require the Department of Elementary and Secondary develop the personal finance literacy component within the existing mathematics curriculum for grades pre-kindergarten to 12.
What do you think -- should schools be required to teach personal finance literacy? Vote in our poll, and check back tomorrow for the results.
Tuesday's Top 5
The top 5 headlines on MassLive.com on June 14 were:
- Massachusetts tornadoes aerial photos: Path of the tornado one week later (part 2: Monson, Brimfield, Sturbridge, Southbridge) [photo gallery]
- Massachusetts tornadoes aerial photos: Path of the tornado, one week later (part 1) [photo gallery]
- District Attorney Mark Mastroianni pledges Holyoke traffic death will be probed with integrity
- Police seek complaint against sergeant who allegedly threatened hospital employee where accused cop-shooter Tamik Kirkland was recuperating
- Aerials of tornado destruction [photo gallery]
Quote of the Day
"Go for amazing."
— High School of Commerce senior class president Gabriella Felix, delivering an address at the school's commencement ceremony Tuesday evening. Read Peter Goonan's story here.