After more than 20 years in banking, Sue Owens became executive director of Economics Arkansas — then known as the Arkansas Council on Economic Education — in 2004. She currently serves on the national board of directors of the Council for Economic Education is president-elect of the National Association of Economic Educators.
Sue Owens’ career includes 24 years in banking and service as past marketing director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas.
Give us a brief history of Economics Arkansas.
In 1962, a group of Arkansas business, education, agriculture, government and labor leaders formed a statewide council for economic education. Arch Ford, commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Education, appointed Bessie B. Moore to develop the program based on the conviction that it is critical to provide young people with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively participate in our economy.
Since 1962, Economics Arkansas has impacted more than 80,000 teachers who have impacted over 4 million students. Economics Arkansas trains K-12 teachers to integrate “real life” economics into the classroom so students will be better prepared as future consumers, producers, savers, investors and voting citizens.
What interested you personally in the mission of Economics Arkansas?
I grew up in a single-parent home and watched my mother work two jobs and go to school at night. She was investing in her human capital to improve herself and to improve the economic well-being of our household. My mother didn’t have enough money to send me to college, so I too attended college as an adult.
I started a career in banking when I was 19, but my ability to move up the pay scale was limited without a college degree. It was challenging to work a full-time job and go to school at night, but I knew that investing in myself would be the ticket to expanded job opportunities. One year after I graduated, I became executive director of this organization, which would not have been possible without my degree. Another reason I am passionate about our mission is based on my 20-year career as a banker. I saw the devastating outcome of financial illiteracy and its impact on an individual’s standard of living.
Economics Arkansas was instrumental in requiring a semester of economics for all high school graduates. Is the requirement adequate?
Arkansas became the 21st state in the country to require economics for graduation, starting with ninth-graders entering high school in the fall of 2010, so the first graduating class with economics was in the spring of 2014. More than 31,000 students graduated with higher levels of economic and financial literacy. With each successive class of students who graduate, Arkansas will feel the impact. Is the course adequate? Yes, it is an excellent course, but obviously it would be more beneficial for students to have an entire semester of economics, along with an entire semester of personal finance. We would also like to see stronger integration of economics in the K-8 grade levels, so students learn the concepts at an earlier age.
What are other states doing to foster better understanding of economics and personal finance?
The education environment is constantly changing, so keeping our programs and training relevant to educators is key. The Council for Economic Education has a national advocacy role in policymaking, so one of its goals is to see more states requiring economics and personal finance for graduation. Both the CEE and the Federal Reserve Bank are involved in national economic and personal finance programs. There is a lot more work to be done as the majority of states still do not require economics or personal finance to graduate.
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