14102026D
HOUSE BILL NO. 889
Offered January 8, 2014
Prefiled January 8, 2014
A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-200.03 of the Code of
Virginia, relating to economics education and financial literacy; online course
of instruction.
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Patron-- Comstock
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Committee Referral Pending
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 22.1-200.03 of the Code of Virginia is amended
and reenacted as follows:
§22.1-200.03. Economics education and financial literacy
required in middle and high school grades; Board of Education to establish
objectives for economic education and financial literacy.
A. As used in
this section:
"Financial
institution" means a bank, savings and loan association, savings bank, or
credit union authorized to conduct business in the Commonwealth.
"High
school" includes grades nine through 12.
"Middle
school" includes grades six through eight.
By July 1, 2006,
instruction B. Instruction in
the principles of the American economic system shall be required in the public
middle and high schools of the Commonwealth to promote economics education and
financial literacy of students and to further the development of knowledge,
skills, and attitudes needed for responsible citizenship in a constitutional
democracy.
B. C. The
Board of Education shall develop and approve objectives for economics education
and financial literacy at the middle and high school levels, that shall be
required of all students, and shall provide for the systematic infusion of
economic principles in the relevant Standards of Learning, and in career and
technical education programs. The objectives shall include, but not be limited
to, personal living and finances; personal and business money management
skills; opening an account in a financial institution and judging the quality
of a financial institution's services; balancing a checkbook; completing a loan
application; the implications of an inheritance; the basics of personal
insurance policies; consumer rights and responsibilities; dealing with salesmen
and merchants; debt management; managing retail and credit card debt; state and
federal tax computation; local tax assessments; computation of interest rates
by various mechanisms; understanding simple contracts; and learning how to
contest an incorrect bill.
C. D. To facilitate the
objectives of economics education and financial literacy through practical
experiences, the Department shall confer with the State Corporation
Commission's Bureau of Financial Institutions, and financial and relevant
professional organizations in the development of guidelines for such literacy
objectives. The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to, (i) rules and
policies governing the establishment, operation, and dissolution of school
banks and school credit unions; (ii) written agreements between partnering
public schools and financial institutions, including the disposition of funds
donated or other financial contributions provided by the partnering financial
institution; and (iii) such other matters as the Department may deem
appropriate.
D. E. The Board shall not be
required to evaluate student achievement concerning economics education and
financial literacy objectives in the Standards of Learning assessments required
by §22.1-253.13:3.
E. For
the purposes of this section, "at-risk and disadvantaged students"
means students having socioeconomic or cultural risk factors that research
indicates may negatively influence academic achievement or may hinder an
individual in reaching his life goals.
For the purposes of
this section, "financial institution" means a bank, savings and loan
association, savings bank, or credit union authorized to conduct business in
the Commonwealth.
For the purposes of
this section, "high school" includes grades nine through 12.
For the purposes of
this section, "middle school" includes grades six through eight.
F. The
Board of Education shall develop an online course of instruction and assessment
in the objectives of economics education
and financial literacy. Each local school board shall offer the
online course of instruction and
assessment to public middle and
high school students as an alternative to classroom
instruction in the objectives of
economics education and financial literacy.
2. That the Board of Education shall develop an online course
of instruction and assessment in the objectives of economics education and
financial literacy no later than July 1, 2016, and each local school board
shall offer the online course of instruction and assessment to public middle
and high school students beginning in the 2016-2017 school year.
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