| (a) Implementation. The provisions of this section
shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2022-2023
school year.
(b) General requirements. This course is recommended
for students in Grades 11 and 12. Students shall be awarded one-half
credit for successful completion of this course. Students may not
be awarded credit for both this course and the personal financial
literacy course adopted under this subchapter.
(c) Introduction.
(1) The Personal Financial Literacy and Economics Course
emphasizes the economic way of thinking, which serves as a framework
for the personal financial decision-making opportunities introduced
in the course. Students will demonstrate the ability to anticipate
and address financial challenges as these challenges occur over their
lifetime. In addition, students are introduced to common economic
and personal financial planning terms and concepts. As a result of
learning objective concepts and integrating subjective information,
students gain the ability to lead productive and financially self-sufficient
lives.
(2) Personal Financial Literacy and Economics builds
on and extends the economic content and concepts studied in Kindergarten-Grade
12 social studies in Texas. The course provides a foundation in both
microeconomics and macroeconomics. Students will survey the impact
of demand, supply, various industry structures, and government policies
on the market for goods, services, and wages for workers. Macroeconomic
study involves economic systems with an emphasis on free enterprise
market systems, goals of full employment, price stability, and growth
while examining problems such as unemployment and inflation and the
policies enacted to address them. The course also builds on and extends
the personal finance content and concepts studied in Kindergarten-Grade
8 in mathematics in Texas. It is an integrative course that applies
the same economic way of thinking developed to making choices about
how to allocate scarce resources in an economy to how to make them
at the personal level. The course requires that students demonstrate
critical thinking by exploring how to invest in themselves with education
and skill development, earn income, and budget for spending, saving,
investing, and protecting. Students will examine their individual
responsibility for managing their personal finances and understand
the impact on standard of living and long-term financial well-being.
Further, students will connect how their financial decision making
impacts the greater economy.
(3) This course was created in response to Texas Education
Code (TEC), §28.025(b-22), satisfies the high school requirement,
and meets the two-thirds of instructional time in personal financial
literacy and one-third of instructional time in economics. In addition,
the course addresses new financial challenges of modern economy.
(4) State and federal laws mandate a variety of celebrations
and observances, including Celebrate Freedom Week.
(A) Each social studies class shall include, during
Celebrate Freedom Week as provided under TEC, §29.907, or during
another full school week as determined by the board of trustees of
a school district, appropriate instruction concerning the intent,
meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the
U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical
contexts. The study of the Declaration of Independence must include
the study of the relationship of the ideas expressed in that document
to subsequent American history, including the relationship of its
ideas to the rich diversity of our people as a nation of immigrants,
the American Revolution, the formulation of the U.S. Constitution,
and the abolitionist movement, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation
and the women's suffrage movement.
(B) Each school district shall require that, during
Celebrate Freedom Week or other week of instruction prescribed under
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, students in Grades 3-12 study
and recite the following text: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident,
that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent
of the Governed."
(5) Students identify and discuss how the actions of
U.S. citizens and the local, state, and federal governments have either
met or failed to meet the ideals espoused in the founding documents.
(6) Students understand that a constitutional republic
is a representative form of government whose representatives derive
their authority from the consent of the governed, serve for an established
tenure, and are sworn to uphold the constitution.
(7) Statements that contain the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(d) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Economics. The student understands the fundamental
concepts of economics. The student is expected to:
(A) analyze how the concepts of scarcity, choice, and
opportunity costs apply to decision making;
(B) interpret a production-possibilities curve and
apply the concepts of scarcity, choice, and opportunity costs;
(C) explain how the production-possibilities curve
represents cost-benefit decision making;
(D) use the circular flow model to identify how households,
firms, and governments interact in both resource markets and product
markets;
(E) evaluate how prices and quantities are determined
through supply and demand;
(F) interpret a supply-and-demand graph, including
equilibrium point, surpluses, and shortages;
(G) analyze how non-price determinants of supply and
demand affect equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity; and
(H) explain how supply and demand exist in both resource
and product markets.
(2) Economics. The student understands that macroeconomic
issues and policies have an impact on personal finance. The student
is expected to:
(A) identify types of progressive and regressive taxes
at the local, state, and national levels and explain the economic
importance of each;
(B) examine and evaluate the reasons for federal income
taxation, Social Security taxation, Medicaid taxation, and Medicare
taxation, including earnings limitations as applicable;
(C) explain how all economic systems are mixed and
exist on a spectrum between pure market and pure command systems;
(D) explain the benefits of the U.S. free enterprise
system, including private property and incentives;
(E) discuss the importance of full employment, price
stability, and economic growth in achieving the macroeconomic goals
of the United States;
(F) explain the impact of fiscal policies enacted by
government decisions on interest rates, inflation, and unemployment;
and
(G) explain the impact of monetary policies enacted
by the Federal Reserve System on interest rates, inflation, and unemployment.
(3) Personal financial literacy--investing in education
and skills. The student recognizes the costs and benefits of various
types of postsecondary education and training throughout the student's
lifetime. The student is expected to:
(A) analyze the relationship between education and
training and earnings throughout the student's lifetime;
(B) investigate and evaluate the costs and benefits
of various postsecondary education and training institutions;
(C) describe the process for completing grant and scholarship
applications, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA® ) provided by the U.S. Department
of Education or the Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA);
(D) analyze and compare various student grant and loan
options, including private and federal loans;
(E) interpret data from a student aid report; and
(F) research and align personal interests and skills
with potential careers and postsecondary education to assure a life
strategy that will produce employment the student enjoys with a desired
standard of living.
(4) Personal financial literacy--earning. The student
recognizes that a variety of factors influence income. The student
is expected to:
(A) identify sources of income, including wages and
salaries, profits, interest, rent, dividends, and capital gains;
(B) compare common employee benefits such as health
insurance, sick leave, retirement plans, and other tax-favored health
and dependent care plans;
(C) differentiate among and calculate gross, net, and
taxable income; and
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