FEF Action
tell them change is coming
Tell the schools to add Unbiased Financial Education NOW!
Below are two links. One is to an Email template letter advocating for financial education for schools and their districts, and the second link will send you to the University of Chicago's Financial Education Initiative, the source of the Email template. I invite you to download their Financial Education Advocate Toolkit to learn more about what they do.
For childless people like myself, it is just as important that you take up this cause as well. This effects you way more than you may realize!
Sign our petition
The Issue: Who doesn't have money problems? At some point or another, most of us have faced financial struggles. Whether it's making ends meet, understanding taxes, or navigating the complexities of student loans and credit scores, financial literacy is a fundamental life skill that many lack. Yet, we expect young adults to make significant financial decisions without the proper knowledge or education. This gap in education sets them up for potential failures and hardships that could easily be mitigated with the right tools. Illinois public schools must step up and address this crucial gap in our educational system by implementing comprehensive financial and economics courses from kindergarten through to 12th grade. Our children deserve to enter the world with the ability to manage their finances effectively and confidently. Currently, financial education is fragmented, with few schools offering in-depth studies, leaving students to learn through potentially costly mistakes and even lifelong financial traps. By introducing structured financial literacy courses across all grade levels, we ensure that essential topics such as budgeting, savings, investment, debt management, and economics are covered. These courses should evolve as students mature, becoming more complex and relevant, preparing them for real-world financial challenges. Statistics show that students from states with mandatory financial literacy courses tend to have better credit scores and lower credit delinquency rates. Implementing a statewide mandate for these courses in Illinois is not only beneficial but necessary. The National Endowment for Financial Education reports that nearly 88% of adults say they did not receive adequate financial education growing up. We have the opportunity to change this trajectory and equip future generations with the skills they need to thrive financially. Legislators, educators, and stakeholders must collaborate to create a standardized financial literacy curriculum tailored for different age groups, ensuring inclusivity and effectiveness. Join us in urging the Illinois Department of Education to prioritize financial literacy and inclusion within our schools. Together, we can prepare our children for a financially sound future. Sign this petition to make financial literacy education a reality for all Illinois public school students.
Help Support the FEF
We set up a fundraiser on Go Fund Me.
If you can afford it the FEF could definitely use your support. It can be a bit daunting asking folks to pay for financial illiteracy awareness. The only way to convince some folks is through sheer unfiltered brutal honesty. WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE IN NUCLEAR HELLFIRE IF YOU DON'T HELP US!!! Ahhhhh! Are you scared yet? Alright fine! Head over there now anyway. (Click the FEF logo on the left to enter) and Thank you!
FEF Youtube Channel
The FEF has a YouTube channel. Check out our new Project: Wasteland Economics.
Ask yourself: When you went to school, did you take any classes on the subject of money or finance?
Hello my name is Christopher Hays, creator of the F.E.F. For me the closest I came to anything resembling a financial education was when I took Home EC in high school. From that time, I have a vague memory of spending a day or two learning how to pay bills and balance a checkbook. And that was it. That was the fullest extent of my financial education. Do you find this disconcerting? If you do, this might be the reason why; Every single person alive today is absolutely dependent upon the acquisition and growth of Money but should you stray from this concept your life will become virtually impossible to maintain in a modern society. The vast majority of us would not survive long. Here in the state of Illinois our Treasury Department has an Entire Financial Curriculum for all grades, k-12, just sitting on the treasury website. Pages and pages of educational material, hours of video media, interactive workshops, and links galore. All of it just sitting there, unable to move foreword for "reasons". Truly unfortunate (pun intended) Now ask yourself this; Why would we give our children all the tools to navigate life; reading, writing and arithmetic, But for some reason we have decided that financial education is off the table. Madness! This must change now. We have a daunting task ahead of us, but as the saying goes "It takes faith to move mountains, but you may want to bring a shovel!". So lets grab our shovels and start digging in. Fight financial Illiteracy! Thank you for your time. Cheers!
“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
Charles Dickens