Senator Zach Duckworth (R-Lakeville) this week presented bipartisan legislation in the Education Finance committee that increases and makes permanent grants to the Minnesota Council on Economic Education (MCEE) to train educators on how to successfully integrate economics and personal finance into their lessons.  

The Minnesota Council on Economic Education’s mission is to promote economics by preparing and training teachers to impact students. Since its formation in 1961, MCEE has trained over 32,000 teachers and has made a difference in the lives of an estimated 2.8 million young people across Minnesota. The Council’s work has been instrumental in increasing the financial literacy of Minnesotans through the training of K-12 educators.

“This bill allows teachers to meet the needs of students by giving them the tools to create unique economic lessons that help kids across the state better understand personal finance and the broad reach of economics. MCEE’s tools and training provide the foundation for teacher knowledge, allowing teachers to work with students by integrating economics into math, reading, and science. This is a positive bill that teaches economics, supply and demand, and market forces to our students as a part of their civics education,” said Duckworth. 

The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the Education committee’s final omnibus bill.