A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE completion of An economics and PERSONAL finance COURSE as a high school GRADUATION REQUIREMENT in local school administrative units AND TO REQUIRE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR economics and personal finance TEACHERS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  This act shall be known as the "Economics and Financial Literacy Act."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑81.65 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑81.65.  Financial literacy.
(a)	The State Board of Education shall require during the high school years the teaching of a semester course focused solely on Economics and Personal Finance (EPF). The content of the course shall align with the second edition of the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics and the 2013 National Standards for Financial Literacy, as developed by the Council for Economic Education. A passing grade in the course shall be required for graduation from high school. The State Board shall review the high school standard course of study to determine grade levels during which the EPF course may be completed and shall reorganize other courses as appropriate.
(b)	The EPF course shall provide instruction on basic economic principles and shall provide personal financial literacy instruction that shall include the following:
(1)	The true cost of credit.
(2)	Choosing and managing a credit card.
(3)	Borrowing money for an automobile or other large purchase.
(4)	Home mortgages.
(5)	Credit scoring and credit reports.
(5a)	Planning and paying for postsecondary education.
(6)	Other relevant financial literacy issues."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑81.65, as amended by Section 2 of this act, is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(c)	The Department of Public Instruction shall require that EPF teachers receive the professional development necessary to ensure that the intent and provisions of this section are carried out. To the extent funds are made available for this purpose, the State Board of Education shall require local school administrative units to make available to EPF teachers and prospective EPF teachers the EPF professional development course provided by the North Carolina Council on Economic Education (NCCEE). To the extent possible, the EPF professional development course shall be taken at the NCCEE‑approved location most conveniently located to the local school administrative unit."
SECTION 4.  For the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, there is appropriated from the General Fund to the nonprofit organization known as The North Carolina Council on Economic Education (NCCEE) the sum of one million sixty‑three thousand eight hundred dollars ($1,063,800) as grant‑in‑aid to provide for completion of the professional development course required in Section 3 of this act for teachers of the high school course in Economics and Personal Finance (EPF). The funds appropriated by this section shall be used to provide (i) the EPF professional development course, including administration of the Test of Economic Literacy and the Working in Support of Education personal finance test, and the provision of a certificate of completion to qualified teachers, (ii) travel expense reimbursement, if necessary, for teachers required to complete the EPF professional development course, and (iii) a stipend to each teacher in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00), upon completion of the Test of Economic Literacy and the Working in Support of Education personal finance test.
By September 1, 2020, and by September 1 of the year following any fiscal year that NCCEE uses State funds thereafter, NCCEE, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction, shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the Fiscal Research Division on the activities described by this section and the expenditure of State funds.
SECTION 5.  Section 2 of this act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2020‑2021 school year. Sections 3 and 4 of this act are effective July 1, 2019. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.