Will County Gazette

State Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood) is celebrating having a hand in instructing students in what she sees as one of their most significant life lessons by aiding them in mastering financial preparedness.

“A major part of our responsibility as educators is to prepare kids for life beyond the classroom,” Loughran said in a post to Facebook. “Applicable, real life skills ought to receive greater attention in the classroom and it is my pledge to continue finding ways to address critical gaps in our curriculum.”

Sponsored by Loughran Cappel and recently signed into law to take effect immediately, Senate Bill 1830 “allows either one year, or a semester, of a financial literacy course to count toward the social studies requirement to graduate high school.”

As further ammunition, Loughran Cappel points to a recent USA TODAY study that finds of those who attended college, only 41% said they received enough information during that time to build good financial habits and just 30% said their high school education did so.

In addition, when quizzed about what they wish they had learned more about in school, financial topics were at the top of the list for most students.