Local teachers prepare to teach fiscal responsibility in their classrooms

“This was, hands down, one of the best professional development experiences I’ve participated in, and I feel prepared to teach my high school students about the national debt and federal deficit,” said Vikki Dahl, social studies teacher and department chair at Field High School. Ms. Dahl was one of thirty teachers from across Ohio selected from an applicant pool of over 100 to participate in the 2018 Understanding Fiscal Responsibility Teacher Institute organized by the H.K. Barker Center for Economic Education. Since its founding in 1974, the Center for Economic Education, a nonprofit partnership of leaders in business and in education, has supported over 5,000 classroom teachers through its economic education workshops and programming. 

This summer’s teacher institute prepared middle and high school social studies teachers to promote an understanding of fiscal responsibility in their classrooms.  The institute was organized around four core questions:

• What do we need to know and understand about the federal budget, national debt and budget deficit in order to make informed public policy choices that comport with our values and social goals?

• What are our national fiscal practices, policies and priorities?
• How should we address our nation’s enormous fiscal challenges today and in the future?
• What are the opportunity costs associated with not addressing the state of our nation’s budget, deficit, and debt?

The first three days of the institute was held on campus in Zook Hall, and prioritized the use of essential dilemmas, primary sources, and current issues to help teachers assist their students in thinking like an economist. Sessions included “U.S. Budget Priorities,” “Fake News and Teaching Economics,” and “Hamilton: More than a Musical.” On the final day of the teacher institute, participants met with staff from the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank, toured its Money Museum, and completed an economics scavenger hunt of downtown Cleveland. 

Dr. Brad Maguth, director of the Barker Center, noted that teachers from 19 different school districts were represented, including teachers from the Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, and Youngstown areas.  The Center was selected as a national finalist for an $11,000 gift from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and the Council for Economic Education to help support the institute. 

Applications for the 2019 Teacher Institute, centered on advancing entrepreneurship and STEM education, will open to teachers across Ohio in early spring 2019 at www.uakron.edu/barkercenter.