Financial education

AN ACT Relating to making financial education instruction a 1
graduation requirement; amending RCW 28A.300.468; adding a new 2
section to chapter 28A.230 RCW; and creating a new section.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that 5
acquiring and applying a basic knowledge of personal finance is 6
critical to the economic well-being of all adults. Without this 7
knowledge, persons are much less well equipped to navigate the 8
complicated financial issues of modern life, including household 9
budgets, consumer debt, loan applications and obligations, and 10
successful retirement planning.11
(2) The legislature also recognizes that it has taken meaningful 12
steps to support financial education instruction in public schools, 13
including establishing the financial education public-private 14
partnership in 2004, adopting financial education learning standards 15
in 2015, and providing funds in 2022 for financial education 16
professional development for certificated staff. 17
(3) In recognition of the relevance and importance of personal 18
finance knowledge, the ongoing efforts of the financial education 19
public-private partnership, and the ability of public schools to 20
teach or continue teaching financial education instruction, the 21
Z-0140.2
SENATE BILL 5080
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Valdez, Cortes, Harris, Krishnadasan, Liias, Nobles,
Orwall, Riccelli, Saldaña, Shewmake, Trudeau, and C. Wilson; by
request of State Treasurer
Prefiled 12/19/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
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legislature intends to ensure that all Washington students are 1
provided financial education instruction. Therefore, the legislature 2
intends to make financial education instruction a graduation 3
requirement. 4
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.300.468 and 2015 c 211 s 4 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) After consulting with the financial education public-private 7
partnership, the office of the superintendent of public instruction 8
shall make available to all school districts a list of instructional 9
materials that align with the financial education learning standards 10
((integrated into the state learning standards pursuant to RCW 11
28A.300.460(2)(d))) adopted in RCW 28A.300.469. 12
(2) School districts shall provide all students in grades nine 13
through twelve the opportunity to access the financial education 14
standards, whether through a regularly scheduled class period; before 15
or after school; during lunch periods; at library and study time; at 16
home; via online learning opportunities; through career and technical 17
education course equivalencies; or other opportunities. School 18
districts shall publicize the availability of financial education 19
opportunities to students and their families. School districts are 20
encouraged to grant credit toward high school graduation to students 21
who successfully complete financial education courses.22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.230 23
RCW to read as follows: 24
(1)(a) Beginning in or before the 2029-30 school year, each 25
school district that operates a high school shall provide all high 26
school students with financial education instruction that is 27
consistent with the state financial education learning standards 28
adopted in RCW 28A.300.469. 29
(b) Each student must meet high school learning standards related 30
to financial education in order to graduate from high school, 31
beginning with the earlier of the graduating class (i) of 2033 or 32
(ii) as recommended by the state board of education.33
(2)(a) The state board of education shall recommend needed 34
adjustments to graduation requirements and other educational 35
offerings in order to ensure students have adequate opportunity to 36
meet the graduation requirement established in subsection (1)(b) of 37
this section. 38
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(b) In developing the recommendations, the state board of 1
education shall: 2
(i) Consult with the financial education public-private 3
partnership, students, parents and guardians, educators, K-12 4
education partners, postsecondary partners, employers, and community 5
members; 6
(ii) Consider how students may meet financial education learning 7
standards and develop other skills and knowledge in the state's 8
profile of a graduate developed under section 1, chapter 144, Laws of 9
2021 while meeting standards in core subject areas; and10
(iii) Consider how to incorporate the requirement established in 11
subsection (1)(b) of this section into the framework of graduation 12
requirements, including consideration of credit options and 13
competency-based options. 14
(c) The state board of education shall submit a report with 15
recommendations to the governor and education committees of the 16
legislature by December 31, 2026. 17
(3)(a) By December 15, 2025, school districts shall submit to the 18
state board of education and the financial education public-private 19
partnership established in RCW 28A.300.450: 20
(i) A list of courses and other learning opportunities offered on 21
financial education for high school students in their district during 22
or prior to the 2024-25 school year and the number of students served 23
by those offerings; and 24
(ii) A description of what the school district may need in order 25
to ensure that students are able to meet the graduation requirement 26
established in subsection (1)(b) of this section. 27
(b) The financial education public-private partnership shall 28
analyze the information provided under (a) of this subsection and 29
create a statewide implementation plan for the requirements of this 30
section. The plan, which must be submitted to the office of the 31
superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education, 32
and, in accordance with RCW 43.01.036, the appropriate committees of 33
the legislature by December 31, 2026, may include recommendations for 34
additional funding for grants to integrate financial literacy 35
education into professional development for certificated staff and 36
other school district resources in accordance with submissions 37
provided under (a) of this subsection. 38
(4) Beginning no later than the 2027-28 school year, school 39
districts shall publicize the offering of financial education 40
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instruction, and the associated graduation requirement, to students 1
and their parents or legal guardians. 2
(5) Students in grade 12 who have not been able to meet the 3
graduation requirement established in subsection (1)(b) of this 4
section because of previous residence outside the state may have the 5
requirement waived by their principal. Waivers provided in accordance 6
with this subsection (5) may only be issued on an individual basis.7
(6)(a) The state board of education shall review and monitor 8
financial education offerings to ensure school district compliance 9
with the requirements of subsection (1)(a) of this section. The 10
reviews and monitoring required by this subsection (6) may be 11
conducted concurrently with other oversight and monitoring conducted 12
by the state board of education. 13
(b) The state board of education, in accordance with RCW 14
43.01.036, shall provide a summary of the information collected under 15
this subsection (6) for school years 2027-28 and 2028-29 to the 16
appropriate committees of the legislature by January 10, 2029.17
(7) This section governs school operation and management under 18
RCW 28A.710.040 and 28A.715.020, and applies to charter schools 19
established under chapter 28A.710 RCW and state-tribal education 20
compact schools subject to chapter 28A.715 RCW to the same extent as 21
it applies to school districts. 22
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