$2 Million For Financial Literacy (Editorial)

The subject of money is fraught in this country. Many people find honestly addressing and discussing their finances difficult. And the subject of money is even more stressful to those who don’t have enough of it — the very people who should be able to contemplate their finances dispassionately so they can rationally find ways to either cut expenses or earn more.

So when the Walton Family Foundation announced last week that it was giving $2 million to endow the nonprofit Economics Arkansas Foundation, we were thrilled. The foundation will support the work of Economics Arkansas, which has received praise before in these pages. Economics Arkansas works to train K-12 teachers to integrate “real life” economics into the classroom.

The Walton Family Foundation’s $2 million will comprise 25 percent of what the foundation hopes will become an $8 million endowment. The endowment has three goals:

1) Educate more teachers and students and demonstrate the effectiveness of the training.

2) Advocate for financial and economic literacy in Arkansas schools.

3) Ensure the future of Economics Arkansas.

The nonprofit says demand for its programs is increasing, citing, among others, the CHOICES program, which teaches eighth-grade students in danger of dropping out the importance of academic self-discipline, career skills, time and money management, human capital development, decision-making skills and goal setting. The program helps students understand that they must take control of their own financial lives and that to stay employed, they must bring value to their employers.

The entire state benefits when its citizens face their financial challenges head-on and with the tools to address those challenges. In the realm of personal finance, ignorance costs too much.