Head of School's Message: February 13
Money, it’s the root of all evil and a fool is easily parted from it, but kids need to learn to manage it.
The monthly pop-up Shamrock Shoppe, staffed by parent volunteers gives students in all grades a chance to make small purchases and polish their mental math skills. They’re cash-based transactions. Kids learn what a dollar or two can buy. The simple acts of putting bills into a wallet or counting change are unfamiliar to most of them. The Shamrock Shoppe is an opportunity to learn life skills although physical cash may be a dated commodity when the current generation of Chandler students go out into the larger marketplace.
In the first decade of this century, Enron’s accounting shenanigans, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and the sub-prime mortgage fiasco led schools to develop financial literacy programs with the goal of teaching about the wonder of compound interest as well as instilling an understanding that if a promise of easy riches sounded too good to be true, once you ran the numbers, it probably was. Moral failings in some created financial disasters for others.
Chandler had an innovative financial literacy program in place before those collapses. Developed by Pete Carlson, the Director of Chandler’s Innovation Lab, who taught 8th Grade math for many years, 8th Grade students were assigned a job with a financial profile at the beginning of the school year. They might be a postal worker or a Starbucks baristas. Students were given a salary. Throughout the year, they had to allocate funds to cover rent, transportation, food and extras, with the occasional wrinkle like a car repair or medical bill thrown in. Students created spreadsheets and made decisions about ‘wants’ and ‘needs.’ Everyone filed a tax return as a culminating activity.
Many Chandler families give their children allowances. The weekly amount usually corresponds to the child’s age in dollars: $5 for a 5-year-old and $10 for a 10-year-old. One 7th Grade boy told me he gets $13 each week. He’s allowed to spend $5, but he has to save $4 and set aside $3 to donate. 8th Grade Math Teacher Missy Griffin used a similar approach with her children as they were growing up. “They placed some money in spending, saving and giving. They learned to save if they wanted to buy larger items for themselves. Allowances provided us with opportunities to talk to our kids about money management, giving and savings.”
Tying allowances to chores is controversial. One 7th Grade girl told me her mom requires her to do chores without compensation, “Mom says this is my house just as much as hers, and I need to help keep it clean without getting anything extra.” Middle School Director Rob Evans and his wife Tina are in favor of an allowance for chores, but they’re worried about extrinsic motivation supplanting an intrinsic desire in their children to help the family. Director of Enrollment Management Gretchen Lurie endorses that sentiment, “Carrying out simple, age-appropriate tasks should be expected of every child as a family member. They help teach independence, responsibility and commitment. Helping out at home should not be optional.”
An allowance is a tool to teach the value of money and financial responsibility. About half the middle school students I spoke to last week said they get one. The other half said they ask for money when they need it and usually get it as long as the request is reasonable. Whether they receive an allowance or not, Chandler students need help understanding that money makes the world go round, and it doesn’t grow on trees.
Sincerely,
John Finch, Head of School
