Financial literacy education in Hawaii needs to be improved, Hawaii County Council members agreed Tuesday.
Council members voted Tuesday during a meeting of the Government Operations, Relations, and Economic Development Committee in favor of a nonbinding resolution urging the state Legislature to encourage the state Department of Education to develop a public school curriculum focused on better preparing keiki for the financial realities of adult life.
The resolution, introduced by Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder, was developed after a bill in the Legislature that would establish a school curriculum to teach, among other things, financial management, was deferred in March.
Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder acknowledged that then-DOE Superintendent Christina Kishimoto opposed the bill this year. Kishimoto argued that financial literacy courses already exist in current public school curriculum, while other parts of the bill were too vague to be implemented.
Nonetheless, Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said, the state has done a disservice to its youth by not passing that bill. The councilman said that, ideally, financial awareness should be instilled in students throughout their education, beginning in elementary school.
“For our keiki right now, giving them this literacy right now will give them a higher quality of life in 10-20 years,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said.
Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder’s fellow council members agreed, although Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy said the resolution has insufficient force behind it.
“I wish there was more teeth here,” Lee Loy said. “There’s not enough meat.”
Lee Loy said she would prefer if the resolution encouraged the state and county to work in parallel with other existing organizations, such as financial counseling provider Financial Empowerment Centers, to spread financial literacy to adults, as well.
However, Lee Loy joined every other council member in voting to pass the resolution to the full council with a favorable recommendation.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.