The following story was corrected on Feb. 1, 2012. An explanation follows the story.

Like most of Maryland’s school systems, Montgomery County does not require a separate financial literacy class for students to get a high school diploma.

But the state’s top accounting official is working to change that.

Comptroller Peter V. Franchot (D) is leading a petition drive in support of requiring all the state’s public schools to create a six-week, half-credit, standalone financial literacy course for high school seniors to take as a graduation requirement.

The course would cover personal financial basics such as compound interest, budgeting and credit, as well as automobile loans and what to look for in the small print of mortgage agreements, Franchot said.

“The vast majority of the graduating kids are completely uninformed about elementary basics about credit, debt and financial issues,” said Franchot, a former member of the House of Delegates representing Montgomery County.

Six county school systems in Maryland — Allegany, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick and Talbot — require students to have course credit from standalone financial literacy classes to graduate.

However, the Maryland State Board of Education only requires school systems to “embed” financial literacy in classes from grades three through 12. It allows standalone financial literacy courses, but doesn’t require them for graduation.

The financial literacy “standards” that the state school board recently mandated school systems teach through elementary, middle and high school include relating choices in education and career to earnings potential; managing debt and credit worthiness; and identifying financial goals and learning financial planning. They were put into effect in public schools in September.

Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Dana Tofig said classes in the system follow the “embedded” model required by the state in social studies courses, in addition to math.

The state Senate has approved financial literacy requirements for high school seniors in each of the past two years, but the House of Delegates did not pass them.

A spokesman for the state Department of Education, William Reinhard, said the state school board opposed these bills in past years and would do so again this year if necessary.

“The state board has been the education policy organization in the state. We believe that has helped maintain the state’s No. 1 public school system,” he said, referring to the top ranking bestowed on state public schools by Education Week magazine four years in a row. ”There’s no reason to change that.”

He added that beyond the state’s new financial education standards approved in September, local school systems are in the best position to decide how to include them in curricula.

One such past legislative effort was a Senate bill from the 2011 session, sponsored by Sen. Katherine Klausmeier (D-Dist. 8) of Perry Hall, which in its original form would have required students to take a financial literacy course to graduate. An analysis of this bill from Maryland’s Department of Legislative Services stated school systems could incur significant long-term costs if they implemented the courses.

The analysis noted there were no financial literacy content specialists at the state education department, and no state money to help implement the new financial literacy curriculum.

But Franchot thinks state education officials are just protecting their bureaucratic turf. Montgomery students in Advanced Placement Economics, he said, still wouldn’t be able to understand the fine print of a mortgage better than other students.

Asked why larger counties such as Montgomery, Howard and Baltimore have not adopted financial literacy graduation requirements while smaller counties have, Franchot responded that counties such as Allegany and Talbot had a stronger adherence to financial frugality than counties with larger populations.

“There’s a certain disposability to taxpayers’ investment,” Franchot said of larger counties’ fiscal attitudes.

His effort is, in part, inspired by Virginia Department of Education, which requires students to obtain at least one credit in economics and personal finance to graduate.

aujifusa@gazette.net

Correction: In the story, Allegany County was misspelled.