When Jack Smith, superintendent of Calvert County Public Schools, graduated from high school in 1975, he wasn’t thinking about his credit rating or a home mortgage.

“No one ever offered me a credit card when I was in college,” Smith said. “In fact, I would have been declined had I applied.”

But after spending more than a year discussing the issue with high school students, parents and other community members, Smith believes high school students in the future should be literate in personal finance in order to graduate.

On Jan. 12, the Calvert County Board of Education officially registered its agreement with him, requiring all high school students to take a course in either banking, finance and credit or in personal finance to graduate. The requirement takes effect for the class of 2016.

Most Maryland school systems, unlike Calvert’s, do 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.R. Franchot (D) is leading a petition drive in support of requiring public school systems statewide to create a six-week, half-credit, 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 from Montgomery County.

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

However, the Maryland State Board of Education only requires school systems to “embed” financial literacy in classes from grades 3 through 12. It allows financial literacy courses, but doesn’t require them for graduation.

The state-mandated financial literacy standards include managing debt and credit worthiness, and identifying financial goals and learning financial planning. They took effect in September.

The Montgomery County school system, as an example, follows the “embedded” model required by the state in social studies courses and math, spokesman Dana Tofig said.

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

William Reinhard, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the state school board opposed the 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,” he said. “There’s no reason to change that.”

He added that local school systems are in the best position to decide how to include the state’s new financial education standards in their curriculum.

But Franchot says state education officials are just protecting their bureaucratic turf.

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.

aujifusa@gazette.net