SR 192

THE SENATE
S.R. NO.
192
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII
SENATE RESOLUTION
Requesting the Board of education, in collaboration with
the department of education, to revise public high school graduation
requirements to include successful completion of a standalone financial
literacy course.
���� WHEREAS, in
2025, the Hawaii State Senate adopted S.R. No. 44, requesting the Department of
Education (Department) to develop and implement a statewide financial literacy
curricula plan for public high school students; and
���� WHEREAS, the
Department responded to the senate resolution by announcing that, beginning
with the incoming freshmen in the Class of 2030, all students in state public
schools must successfully complete a financial literacy educational opportunity
before graduation and document completion through their Personal Transition Plan
(PTP); and
���� WHEREAS, to
enable students to meet this requirement, the Department is allowing public
schools to take a variety of instructional approaches, including self-paced
learning options, integration into existing courses, and other instructional
designs that align with the Department's financial literacy program standards;
and
���� WHEREAS, the
Board of Education, however, did not hold a formal vote to approve the new
requirement or consider alternative options for students to gain a high-quality
financial literacy education; and
���� WHEREAS, a
2024 Financial Literacy Task Force report prepared and submitted by the
Department to the Board of Education considered various methods to incorporate
financial literacy education into the public school curriculum, including but
not limited to making financial literacy a standalone graduation requirement
and incorporating financial literacy into the required PTP; and
���� WHEREAS, Task
Force members expressed concerns that incorporating financial literacy into the
PTP may be too late for impactful education and largely believed that a
standalone course with dedicated instruction, support, feedback, and
accountability is the preferable pathway to ensure all students possess the
financial skills required for post-secondary success; and
���� WHEREAS, as
of November 2025, thirty states guarantee a standalone personal finance course
for all public high school students, including California, which in 2024
enacted a law mandating that a semester-long personal finance course be offered
to all high school students in the state by the 2027-2028 school year; and
���� WHEREAS, this
widespread implementation has been spurred by studies finding that financial
literacy education effectively improves financial behaviors related to
budgeting, saving, credit, and insurance; and
���� WHEREAS, respondents
in a fall 2025 HawaiiKidsCAN community survey expressed overwhelming agreement
that financial literacy is a vital life skill, regardless of a student's
postsecondary plans, making it critical for all students to receive financial
literacy education; and
���� WHEREAS, HawaiiKidsCAN
further found that ninety percent of industry, financial services, and
community members advocate for a half- or full-credit financial literacy course
in the State's public education curriculum; and
���� WHEREAS, a
rigorous, stand-alone financial literacy graduation requirement would best
serve the State's students by prioritizing applied, real-world financial skills
and preventing financial literacy instructions from being lost when combined
with other topics; and
���� WHEREAS, an
annual nationwide Personal Finance Index study conducted in 2025 found that financial
literacy has declined across generations, with Generation Z exhibiting the
lowest levels of financial literacy of any generation studied, averaging only
thirty-eight percent correct answers on the Index compared to an average score
of fifty-five percent among baby boomers; and
���� WHEREAS, individuals
with a very low level of financial literacy are three times as likely to be
debt constrained and more than four times as likely to lack emergency savings
sufficient to cover one month of living expenses compared to those with a very high
level of financial literacy; and
���� WHEREAS,
these findings exhibit the negative long-term individual and societal impacts
of low financial literacy and underscore the importance of establishing a
generationally tailored financial literacy education for young residents; now,
therefore,
���� BE IT
RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii,
Regular Session of 2026, that the Board of Education, in collaboration with the
Department of Education, is requested to revise public high school graduation
requirements to include successful completion of a standalone financial
literacy course; and
���� BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Board of Education's plan to include successful completion of
a standalone financial literacy course as a public high school graduation
requirement is requested to include:
���� (1)� Pathways for teachers to obtain professional
development credits by completing financial literacy training;
���� (2)� Identification of funding sources to support
the implementation of a standalone financial literacy course;
���� (3)� Tracking of student course completion as a
measure of success; and
���� (4)� A curriculum plan that reflects community
input on financial literacy topics and integrates real-world and applied
learning opportunities; and
���� BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Superintendent of Education and Chairperson of the Board of Education.
OFFERED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:�
BOE;
DOE; Financial Literacy; Graduation Requirements; Standalone Course