SR 118 Summary

• Urges the Department of Education, in coordination with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, to implement a graduation requirement of at least a half credit in financial literacy during the junior or senior year

• Requires financial literacy curricula to include practical information on banking, credit cards, student loans, filing taxes, credit scores, savings and investments, rental deposits, and wages and benefits analysis

• Cites that Hawaii ranks among the ten states with the lowest level of high school financial literacy and that twenty-one states already require financial literacy coursework for graduation

• Notes that students lacking financial literacy are more likely to have lower credit scores and experience financial problems, with particularly limited social and income mobility for students from moderate- and low-income communities

• Directs transmission of certified copies to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs