Business teachers answer to financial literacy concerns

Regarding Richard G. Liskov’s “Teach N.Y. students about finances,” April 23, there are many of us in the state who teach financial literacy. We are not social studies teachers. We are business teachers. I have taught career and financial management for 18 years at Clayton A. Bouton High School in Voorheesville.

I fought for the course to be a graduation requirement at our school and it is. I agree that financial literacy needs to be a required course in every high school in New York state, but I disagree with Liskov’s assertion that financial literacy is not something that a district has to spend money on because students can be taught financial literacy through the internet.

Business teachers in this state are certified to teach financial literacy and that is how it should be taught, not as an afterthought in an economics class or by a machine. Have we not learned anything from the pandemic? The solution is not to learn financial literacy online. The solution is to train more people to become business teachers.

A business teacher is always worth the money because not only do we teach financial management but we also introduce students to accounting, law, marketing and entrepreneurship, just to name a few of the courses we are certified to teach. If people are concerned that their children are not learning financial literacy, they should make sure their high school has a business teacher.

Heather Garvey

Cohoes