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Tucker Bedard
1/27/15
Ms. KP
AP English 12
Period G
Proposal

They Never Taught Me to Pay My Bills in School

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Problem statement:
The modern day adult has to face financial stress everywhere throughout their life, from
mortgages to student loan, paying taxes to balancing check books. They have the responsibilities
to budget their money for food, and schooling for themselves and dependents, as well as
affording a place to live, and all necessities for life. Additionally, a majority of these absolute
necessities can be performed online. The lack of knowledge regarding these financial literacy
topics of high school graduates has created an ever-growing average college debt, now
approaching $30,000 (Average). Unemployment for 18 to 29 year olds is 12.4%, well above the
national rate of 8.2% (Malcolm). Students are leaving high school inept to manage their
finances, resulting in beginning life with an overwhelming amount of debt, and setting them up
for failure. While the growing quantity of debt is growing, the larger problem is there are a
large number of people who do not understand how to manage their personal finances (Almon).
In addition, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, identity theft scams have become
more sophisticated than ever, including many that are performed over the internet (Identity). As
graduates gain their financial freedom, typically there is a phase where money is spent
irresponsibly, especially online. Without proper training in finances, many students will
irresponsibly give out their financial literacy and risk even more destruction to their life.
Coventry High School is not teaching its students how to avoid debt, and even worse, it is not
giving them the tools to eliminate debt once it has accumulated. Nearly everyone faces debt
during their lives, but the dividing factor is how efficiently said debt can be paid off, and
removed from a life. These lessons should be taught during high school, to avoid having to learn
them once debt has already accumulated, and is becoming destructive to lives.

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On Coventry High Schools website, it declares that its mission statement is to prepare
every student for life, learning and work in the 21st century (Teaching). The lack of life skills
being taught to students show that the school is failing to follow its own mission statement. It is
neglecting its students and being negligent of their needs, allowing them to enter the world after
high skill ill prepared, and ultimately setting them up for failure and hardship. In the modern
age, money has become a central part of society, however, many students feel unprepared to
manage their financial future, an essential life skill, because they werent taught these skills
during their high school education. This results in anxiety and poor financial decisions
throughout their life as they receive more freedom. When asked to rate her comfort level
regarding financial literacy on a scale of 1-10, Amanda Cabral, ranked number 2 in the senior
class, stated that she felt her comfort level was about a 4 (Amanda). This shows that this issue of
financial illiteracy is instilled into even the brightest of minds of the senior class at Coventry
High School, and that the school is failing these students. Being able to appropriately manage
money is an absolutely vital skill, which must be taught in high school, to prepare teenagers for
the responsibility and pressure which stems from growing financial independence. Most
teenagers are uneducated in these skills, which will cause stress and hardship for many, which
could have been avoided had they learned about finances in high school. If financial literacy is
taught early, then teenagers will be prepared for the struggles they will face after school, coping
with budgeting finances to live within their means. It is the ethical responsibility of the school to
prepare their students for the future, especially considering that the mission statement proudly
displayed on the CHS website states that its goal is to prepare its students for the future. Lacking
this financial literacy requirement is a failure to all students who graduate from Coventry High
School, as it leaves them ill-prepared for their future struggles.

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Statement of Need:
The overwhelming relief felt by college graduates is nearly immediately replaced by fear
and panic, as they realize the enormous amount of responsibility that is now a part of their life.
A major factor in this fear is their lack of knowledge regarding finances, and how to budget and
spend money responsibly. These financial literacy skills must be taught early on, in high school
to all students as a graduation requirement in order to prevent panic later on in life, and to overall
create more responsible and successful people.
Goals and Objectives:
1. Amend the end of the year senior survey to include questions regarding financial literacy
and preparedness.
a. Ask how prepared students feel for the future financially.
b. Ask whether students feel Coventry High School prepared them for life.
c. Compare the results of this survey before the required financial literacy course
requirement and after to hopefully show a higher comfort level from those who
took the class.
2. Hire a teacher to assist in taking on the class load of this revised required financial
literacy senior class.
a. Introduce students to online banking, tax paying, and budgeting.
b. Teach about giving out financial information responsibly.
i. Show what a reliable vs. unreliable website looks like
c. Include projects involving budgeting paychecks received for behavior in class.
3. Require all seniors in the class of 2019 to take a personal finance class during their senior
year.
Mission:
The mission of this proposal is to educate students on financial literacy and to better
prepare them for the future. All seniors will be required to take a financial literacy course,
ensuring their ability to manage their finances later in life and avoid the average $1,800 of credit
card debt for 20-29 year olds (Malcolm).
Implementation of Procedure:

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First, the survey of all seniors would begin with the class of 2016, to provide a baseline
for the amount of students familiar and comfortable with financial management, before the
required class is enacted, this survey would continue annually for the foreseen future. The first
class to have the required personal finance class as a graduation requirement would be the class
of 2019. This would provide 3 classes with survey results before the required class to provide an
accurate viewpoint of students who had not taken the class. These results would then be
compared to the results after the class was required, and will hopefully show a higher comfort
level with personal finance and money management.
To teach the class, a part time business teacher, with a background in economics and
finances would need to be hired by 2019 to take on the task of teaching the entire senior class.
They would be responsible, along with administrators and other finance teachers, to revise the
curriculum and syllabus, to ensure that the students leaving Coventry High School were as
prepared for the future as they possibly could be. In order to revise the curriculum, the group
would need to look at the results from the survey to see what students felt that they needed to
know, and what knowledge they were lacking that would be beneficial to the future. These
topics that the students felt were necessary would be immediately entered into the curriculum if
they were not already a part of the class. The content which is contained in the class will
essentially be an original curriculum which is then tweaked by the students, and their answers to
the questions on the survey at the end of the year. Whatever the students feel they need to know
and do not, will be taught. By allowing them to tweak the curriculum, it allows the students to
prepare for what they believe they need for the future.
The use of technology would be heavily introduced into the class, with online bill paying
and banking software being introduced to students, as this has become the way that a majority of

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financial transactions are conducted. Because education experts agree that learning how to
create and maintain a budget is one of the most important skills that students should learn
(Pannoni), the students would have required projects, including planning for a vacation with a set
amount of money, and managing their life after losing their job. For the vacation project, the
students would each be give $1,000 dollars to provide all items on the vacation for two people, to
show what money really can buy, and put into perspective the price of things. This project would
help to teach the students the value of money, and show them that should they ever want to go on
a trip, they will need to save up for it beforehand. The other project, where the student is now
unemployed, would require them to live for 2 months, on the money which they have saved
from their job, $2,000. This would show the students how important it is to save money, in case
a catastrophe like unemployment strikes. It would allow them to learn to budget their money and
realize what the absolute essentials of life are, and the things that are not necessary.
Evaluation of Resources:
I. Teaching
To undertake the task of teaching the entire senior class, a new teacher would need to be
hired. They would have the responsibility to teach over 100 students personal finance.
Due to the importance and often tedious nature of finances, the class sizes would need to
remain relatively small in order to ensure that every student received the attention and
assistance which they required. This would require budgeting within the school to be
able to pay for a new teacher. This would mean approximately $42,500 would need to be
allocated for the job, as this is the average salary for teachers in Connecticut (2011).
Should the school not approve the hiring of a new teacher, the class should be able to be
divided among teachers currently employed. With only about 100 to 120 students in each

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student class at Coventry High School, this would result in 4 to 5 classes, which, if
absolutely necessary, could be taught by current employees with a background in
business or math.
II. Survey
Since this survey is being added onto the already existing senior exiting survey, it would
result in little, if any added cost to the survey, as the questions posed to the graduates
would add an extra page at most to the survey. This means that he school would have to
purchase very little, if any paper products to conduct said survey to obtain its valuable
feedback.
III. Facilities
Given that there will be four to five classes being taught on this subject, finding adequate
rooming for these classes may prove problematic, but it is certainly doable. While
different classes may have to meet in different rooms, there is no need for new rooms to
be constructed, and therefore there will be no monetary pressure placed on the school.
Certain classes have already been using this technique, such as freshman study skills, and
health, and it has proven effective.
Gaining Support
I. Students
When surveyed about whether a financial literacy course would be beneficial to their
future, 94% of all surveyed agreed that a required financial literacy course taken in their
senior year of high school would be beneficial (Bedard). The students have shown their
support for this class, overall they recognize the importance of financial literacy and how
much their knowledge of it is lacking. This realization shows that the students of

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Coventry High School are supportive of the plan to require a financial literacy course for
all seniors.
II. Faculty
The faculty at Coventry High School wouldnt face any consequences through the
implementation of this requirement, unless the school chose not to hire a new teacher,
and they were one of the few who were teaching the class, or their classroom was being
used. Both of these possible issues shouldnt pose any problem large enough for the
faculty to not support better preparing students for their future. In addition, when asked
about the benefits of a required financial literacy class, Guidance Counselor Kathryn
Zadrowski responded that it would be incredibly helpful to the students futures
(Zadrowski). The faculty at Coventry High School have the best interests of the students
at heart, and therefore should support better preparing them to manage their future, and
will therefore support the implementation of this financial literacy requirement.
III. Administrators
The current principal at Coventry High School, Joe Blake, implemented a required
financial literacy requirement at his former school, showing that he is fully supportive of
required financial literacy courses for high school students (Jeremy). This support from
the principal shows that the administration overall is behind the proposal. If the
administrators truly put the success of their students above all else, then there would be
no reason they would not support this plan whole heartedly.
Effectiveness of Resolutions
Current high school graduates are being failed by their schools if they are not requiring
every single student to take a financial literacy course. These courses are absolutely necessary

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for the students to have a successful future. Since it is the schools ethical obligation to prepare
students for the future, it is a complete disregard of the students best interests to allow them to
enter life after high school nave about what is to come. The hardships that nearly all post
graduates face can either be avoided, or they can be lessened in destructiveness by preparing
students to take on and avoid these unfortunate events.
Some may say that the required class would take away the students opportunities to take
electives, which they would truly enjoy. However, the preparation for the future, and true life
skills is worth the sacrifice of one elective in their senior year. The incorporation of a required
financial literacy course would lower the average amount of debt, both due to college, and due to
life, of all Coventry High School graduates, making it not only an ethical obligation, but also a
moral obligation, to help these students who put all of their trust into their educators.

Appendix
1. Survey Questions
a. Do you plan on attending college?
b. Do you feel prepared to pay for college?
c. Can you balance a checkbook?
d. Do you think that a required financial literacy course would help to prepare you
for your financial future?
2. Interview Questions (Amanda Cabral)
a. On a scale of 1-10 how prepared for your financial future do you feel?
b. Do you feel this accurately represents the senior classs opinions?
c. Do you feel prepared to pay for college?

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d. Do you feel a financial literacy course in your senior year would be beneficial to
planning your financial future?
3. Interview Questions (Kathryn Zadrowski)
a. How difficult is it to implement a new course?
b. Do you feel that students are prepared for their financial future?
c. Do you feel that students would benefit from a required financial literacy course
in their senior year?
d. Do you feel that Coventry High School is preparing its students for their financial
future?

Works Cited

Almon, James. "Schools Must Teach Financial Literacy." Courant.com. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
Bedard, Tucker. Financial Literacy. 14 Feb. 2015
Bidwell, Allie. "Average Student Loan Debt Approaches $30,000." US News. U.S.News & World
Report. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
Cabral, Amanda. Personal interview. 11 Feb. 2015.
Jeremy, Lapointe. Personal Interview. 16 Feb. 2015.
Kathryn, Zadrowski. Personal Interview. 12 Feb. 2015.
Malcolm, Hadley. "Millennials Struggle with Financial Literacy." USATODAY.COM. USA Today. Web.
4 Feb. 2015.
Pannoni, Alexandra. "3 Ways to Engage High Schoolers in Personal Finance." US News. U.S.News &
World Report. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
Unkown. "Identity Theft." FBI. FBI, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Unkown. "Teaching and Learning - Coventry Public Schools." Teaching and Learning - Coventry Public
Schools. Coventry High School, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Unknown. "2011-2012 Average Starting Teacher Salaries by State." Rss. NEA, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

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Annotated Bibliography
Almon, James. "Schools Must Teach Financial Literacy." Courant.com. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. This source
is from one of the oldest and well known newspapers in the United States. Its long tradition of
providing accurate news has provided it with this title. This specific article discusses the
necessity of financial literacy to be required in schools to better prepare their students for success
in life. James Almon is an experience journalist, who has done a multitude of articles regarding
education, and its faults. This source provided qualitative and quantitative data, discussing how
financial literacy could help students later in life.
Bedard, Tucker. Financial Literacy. 14 Feb. 2015. This survey was taken by seniors at Coventry High
School, who can obviously give the most accurate review of their schooling, and how they
believe that it could be improved. The seniors selected for the survey were randomly selected to
avoid bias, and try to have all groups represented. This quantitative data showed how well
prepared for the future the seniors at Coventry High School feel that their education has made
them.
Bidwell, Allie. "Average Student Loan Debt Approaches $30,000." US News. U.S.News & World
Report. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. This article is from a national news provider trusted by millions. This
specific source discusses the growing average college debt, and how graduates are struggling to
deal with this debt. The average debt is increasing more and more, and is now approaching
$30,000. Allie Bidwell has written many articles for U.S. News, a majority of which have been
on the financial crisis, and how students are ill prepared for it. This article discussed the rising
price of a college education, with a plethora of quantitative information.

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Cabral, Amanda. Personal interview. 11 Feb. 2015. As number two in the senior class at Coventry High
School, Amanda exemplifies what it means to be a bright student with a promising future. She is
a member of the Coventry High School senior class and can accurately describe their ideas and
overall beliefs, as she is one of them.
Jeremy, Lapointe. Personal Interview. 16 Feb. 2015. As a business teacher at Coventry High School,
Jeremy Lapointe Understands the type of financial education students are receiving, and how
many are receiving it. He has a personal viewpoint on the number of students who are taking
financial classes at Coventry High School, and how effective the curriculums are for instilling
life skills into students.
Kathryn, Zadrowski. Personal Interview. 12 Feb. 2015. As a guidance counselor at Coventry High
School, Kathryn Zadrowski interacts with students throughout the college process, and
understands how prepared students feel for college, as well as the financial strain which
accompanies it. She also sees how many students are taking financial classes, and how well they
are performing in them, giving her two viewpoints of how prepared for their financial future
students are as they leave Coventry High School.
Malcolm, Hadley. "Millennials Struggle with Financial Literacy." USATODAY.COM. USA Today. Web.
4 Feb. 2015. This comes from a national news source trusted by millions. This article discusses
the increasing amount of debt and how people are struggling more and more with it. The number
of people with debt as well as how much debt they have, is increasing greatly.
Pannoni, Alexandra. "3 Ways to Engage High Schoolers in Personal Finance." US News. U.S.News &
World Report. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. This is from a national news source trusted by millions. This
article discusses how to implement financial lessons in high school. It states ways to make
students realize how important learning about finances is, and how it will help them later in life.
Unkown. "Identity Theft." FBI. FBI, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. The FBI is tasked with
upholding the law, and this includes preventing and solving identity theft. They are leading
experts on the subject because it is their job to be, so that they may prevent it.
Unkown. "Teaching and Learning - Coventry Public Schools." Teaching and Learning - Coventry Public
Schools. Coventry High School, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. The schools mission statement,
straight from the school, shows what the school aims to be. It tells of what the school wishes to
teach its students, and how it wants its students to be when they are graduating.
Unknown. "2011-2012 Average Starting Teacher Salaries by State." Rss. NEA, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
The NEA is the National Education Association, leading experts on education, and all things
related to it. This specific area of their website gave the average starting teacher salaries for each
state.