Dec. 26—New Mexico has joined almost every other state in requiring a financial literacy component for high school graduation. Advocates say it’s still not enough.
Last year, the Legislature updated the state’s 2025-26 graduation requirements to add, among other things, concepts of personal financial literacy as part of the state’s social studies standards.
A coalition composed of elected officials, educators, institutions and the think tank Think New Mexico wanted more — not just a financial literacy standard, but a standalone, semester-long financial literacy course.
However, the bill did establish two graduation credits for districts to decide themselves. As a result, members of the coalition have been encouraging districts across the state to implement financial literacy as a local requirement.
State Treasurer Laura Montoya, a coalition member, has traveled to six school districts so far to promote local implementation of financial literacy. Santa Fe Public Schools was one of the first to fully commit, with other districts still weighing their options.
“We’ve been a big supporter of financial literacy for years,” said Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez — a commitment that began under his predecessor and is expanding.
Not only did Chavez agree to codify Financial Literacy as a standalone class required for incoming freshmen, he went beyond the coalition’s semester-long request to make the course a yearlong requirement — replacing the Algebra 2 math credit.
It fills a need for a class that’s already highly in-demand, with a long waiting list across district schools that offer the elective, Chavez said.
“I think it’s important, especially nowadays when students are going to college, or university or into a career — having that baseline knowledge of how to take care of your finances and be successful, I think benefits all students,” Chavez said.
Montoya said promoting financial literacy instruction is a slow process, “but I’m so dedicated to it — because to me it makes no sense. If you grew up in systemic poverty, you don’t, you can’t learn what you don’t know or what other people around you don’t know. And so the best place for us to get that education is from our school, our schooling. And so I absolutely believe it should be K through 12, but if we can at least first get it in high school, I think that would be great.”
Intersection with ‘baby bonds’
Montoya also said she supported the 2024 bill because it intersects with legislation planned for the upcoming legislative session to expand a pilot “baby bonds” program. The pilot program, funded with private donations, gave 15 New Mexico children $6,000 each, deposited into an investment account they can access at age 18 after taking a course in personal finances. The money can be used for school or for specified expenses, like textbooks or a car.
Montoya wants the state to establish a government-funded trust account to take over and expand the program.
“This isn’t about a handout. This is about a hand up. And I want to be real clear about that. This is not about another free supplemental, whatever. This is about, we’re contributing and investing in you because you’re going to come back and invest in us,” Montoya said.
The financial literacy component, which mirrors a requirement in a similar Connecticut baby bonds program, would assure students know how to manage the money, she said.
“Because what’s the point of giving someone money if you don’t give them the tools and the skill set to be prepared for it?” Montoya said.
Capital High’s Phil Murray, who teaches the school’s four sections of financial literacy this year, said the course is effective.
“It’s math. It’s direct, and kids see the application every day in the classroom,” said Murray, who worked in finance for 25 years prior to starting at Capital.
“It’s a hard job, but then, somebody opens up a Roth IRA in the classroom, and OK — it’s worth it,” he said.
Bringing teachers up to speed
While Murray is well equipped to teach financial literacy, other districts may lack similarly qualified teachers. That’s why the state Public Education Department organized professional development workshops in financial literacy for teachers.
The workshops are a collaboration between the PED, Nusenda Credit Union, Jump$tart New Mexico, and St. John’s College — the latter two, St. John’s and Jump$tart, themselves a part of the coalition promoting financial literacy.
“There are two goals of the workshops,” said Charlie Bergman, senior adviser in the Office of Personal and Professional Development at St. John’s and the creator of the professional development curriculum.
“First,” he said, “to boost their own financial literacy so they have more confidence as adults in managing their financial affairs. The second is to give them the confidence to teach it.”
Bergman is a longtime financial instructor who first taught financial literacy at Albuquerque Academy in 2010 and later at St. John’s for a cohort of low-income students.
New Mexico native Piér Quintana, director of the Office of Personal and Professional Development at St. John’s, was skeptical about investments until she took a version of the course before it was implemented for students.
“I am happy to report that I’m a total convert, and I have now my own investment accounts — including a 529 for my kid,” Quintana said.
“When you don’t understand the stock market, and you don’t trust financial advisers, you’re not going to give this little bit of money that you have,” Quintana said.
Another elected official along with Montoya noted his support for expanded financial literacy for completely different reasons, not just as an anti-poverty measure, but as a step toward addressing a worrying decline in finance-industry personnel.
‘A full-blown workforce crisis’
State Auditor Joseph Maestas, another member of the coalition, said expanded financial literacy instruction would also create a pipeline for those interested in working in the finance industry. New Mexico has experienced a 30-35% drop in certified public accountants, Maestas said.
“This is a full blown workforce crisis,” he said. “We’ve seen a dramatic uptick in late audits, and we have entities basically alleging that the public accounting firms are causing their audits to be late,” said Maestas, “And here’s the kicker: by state law, if any public entity cannot find a public auditing firm, I have to either designate a firm or my office has to commit to do the audit.”
Maestas called on higher education institutions to reinforce pipelines into accounting careers, and promoted an effort by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to categorize accounting under the umbrella of STEM to promote the use of technologies like artificial intelligence to streamline the repetitive processes of an audit.
“I think the biggest message is that New Mexico needs to act,” Maestas said. “Other states are already acting to deal with this talent shortage.”