Strangers in the classroom
I regularly receive e-mails from people who recognize the terrible need for improving financial literacy among young people. Most of the people who write say they want to volunteer their time and teach financial literacy in high school. I am very impressed by how strongly people feel about financial literacy and I have been thinking of ways of harnessing that willingness to help and the generosity of volunteers. Financial literacy is much in need of promoters and organizers. It is a very important issue and we need to work for it. While I want to encourage everyone to get involved with the schools, I am reluctant to recommend that individual volunteers teach financial literacy in schools, for three main reasons. 1. Contrary to popular belief, it is very hard to teach. I have been at Dartmouth for eighteen years now and I can tell you that every year I have to do a lot of preparation to be able to stand in front of my students and engage them. The first day of class normally en