MADINA MADA, MALICHI SIMMONS, SAMANTHA LIGHTFOOT, LANIYA ZELLOUS-SANDERS AND JAH NESIA MCCOY, DURING PPS’ CTE COMMENCEMENT, MAY 4. (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Courier Exclusive: With push from CTE Exec. Dir., Pittsburgh Public Schools makes personal finance course a graduation requirement
At this point, Pittsburgh Public Schools’ CTE (Career and Technical Education) program runs like a well-oiled machine.
Year after year, hundreds of students are graduating from the 16 various CTE programs that are offered at six PPS high schools. They’re celebrated in a high-energy affair with PPS’ top brass and others, the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers building on the South Side serving as host. This year’s celebration occurred on May 4, as CTE Executive Director Angela Mike said that 118 seniors earned 170 industry certifications in areas like carpentry, cosmetology, machine operations, information technology and culinary arts.
Mike told the New Pittsburgh Courier that 86 percent of those CTE seniors will attend college, 8 percent will enter the workforce, 5 percent are union-bound, and 1 percent are enlisting in the U.S. Military.
ROBERT CATONE JR., NINA ESPOSITO-VISGITIS AND ABIJAH LIDDELL
“I am gratified that CTE programs and supports have positioned our seniors to be on a career pathway leading to upward mobility and independence,” Mike said in part in a press release pertaining to the CTE commencement ceremony.
One of the 16 CTE program focus areas is finance technology, where students learn how to use generally accepted accounting principles in manual and computerized formats. Students also learn how to prepare financial statements, business law and office procedures.
ROBERT ANTHONY, GOING TO CCAC
But also within Pittsburgh Public Schools is an elective course on personal finance, so students learn how to manage their own money, in addition to possibly working in finance. The course falls under one of the 30 or so elective courses that fall under the CTE umbrella. Students can elect to take the single period course, whether or not they’re in one of the CTE industry certification programs.
Mike told the Courier she felt so strongly about students’ learning of their finances, she lobbied for it to become a graduation requirement for all PPS high school students. The Courier has learned exclusively that beginning with the 2023-24 school year, all rising ninth grade students will be required to take the personal finance course.
LEGEND HEMINGWAY HOBDY WITH SUPERINTENDENT DR. WAYNE WALTERS
“A lot of our young people, when they graduate, they don’t have a sense of how to manage their finances,” Mike told the Courier. “They might go off to school (college), (unsure) how to start a savings account, or about stocks and bonds…who’s teaching our young people about this? I just think our students will be ahead of the game instead of starting from behind.”
Dollar Bank is also going to help establish each student who takes the course next year with a new bank account, Mike said.
Just five years ago, there were only six states that required its high school students to take a personal finance course. And momentum is growing throughout the nation, led by financial education advocates like the National Financial Educators Council and Next Gen Personal Finance, to make personal finance a requirement for all U.S. high school students. As of March 2023, there are 23 states that have made personal finance a requirement.
Pennsylvania is not one of them.
ZIAIRE LOWERY, GOING TO RMU
But Pittsburgh Public Schools seems to have joined the personal finance party for its high school students. The Courier has learned the course will be taught by what’s called a “Certified Business Elective Teacher,” who resides in each PPS high school. The topics in the course include understanding income and how it affects choices, applying money management skills, spending and credit, and saving and investing.
THESE CTE GRADUATES ALL WORKED WITH THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH, WHICH IS REPRESENTED BY EDUCATION COORDINATOR ALEXIS WALKER, CENTER. (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)
“You can pick up bad habits real quickly around your finances,” Mike said. “If students have this course before they graduate, a lot of them are turning out more successful than others when it comes to debt.”
“In addition to graduating students who are academically sound, we must ensure they are financially literate,” said Dr. Jala Olds-Pearson, PPS’ Chief Academic Officer. “Financial literacy is essential to ensuring students graduate with the skills to economically thrive and have the resources to manage their earnings, build good credit, purchase homes, raise their families, and ultimately achieve their dreams.”
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