Editor's note: The birds and the bees of budgeting—for students, schools and states 

A man of few words, my father believed the financial facts of life were best learned by doing (unlike those other vital facts, which were best learned by osmosis), so my six siblings and I all took our turn behind the counter of his auto parts store. We rang up purchases on an ancient cash register that forced us to do the math ourselves, and we wrote out receipts in carbon-paper account books. If any sound fiscal principles rubbed off on me, they got smudged beyond recognition by the carbon.

My own generation hasn’t done much better discussing the birds and the bees of budgeting with our kids. Many parents don’t feel up to the task, and so they abdicate that crucial responsibility to the schools.

“Parents are more likely to talk to their kids about sex than finances,” Ellen Towers, an economics teacher in the San Diego Unified High School District, told regular California Schools contributor Scott LaFee for his story, “The Financial Facts of Life."

Schools have financial issues of their own, of course, thanks to shortsighted politicians, misplaced priorities and penny-pinchers who believe cutting corners makes for a well-rounded education. Two columnists lend their perspectives on very different approaches to those problems. In his Executive Director’s Note (“Economics and Adequacy—and Governance and Fiscal Reform”), Scott P. Plotkin outlines some of the strategies here at the California School Boards Association for dealing with insufficient state education funding; and in "Fraud Zone Defense,” guest columnist Linda M. Saddlemire discusses five essentials for school boards to consider in establishing effective anti-fraud programs.

None of that would be necessary if all people were honest, of course, but that’s never been the case and never will be. That doesn’t stop dedicated educators from trying to do their part to instill good character in the students whose lives they touch, as staff writer Marsha Boutelle reports in "Character Education and Social Responsibility."

“This is something that has to develop over the course of a lifetime, not just in one class or textbook,” Fawzia Keval, principal of Prairie Elementary School in the Elk Grove Unified School District near Sacramento, told Marsha. “I see it as [educators’] moral responsibility so that our students can become active and engaged citizens, become good family members and good neighbors.”

That’s not part of the three Rs that have traditionally been public schools’ responsibility but, like financial literacy, it’s a need that conscientious educators feel compelled to address even while they teach our children reading, writing and arithmetic.

California’s standards for measuring students’ mastery of those fundamental skills are among the highest in the nation. It’s been a decade since the standards were established under the state Public Schools Accountability Act, though, so staff writer Kristi Garrett decided the time was right to see how they were working out for her story, "Progress Report."

There is much to celebrate, but California’s academic standards remain a work in progress—and one subject to change if the developing push for states to develop common standards succeeds.

“One of my biggest worries is that they’re only focusing on English-language arts and math,” Holly Jacobson, CSBA’s assistant executive director for policy analysis and continuing education, and a member of the PSAA advisory committee, told Kristi. “If the nation develops common standards and assessments are aligned to them, we will see even further narrowing of the curriculum than we see right now.”

CSBA’s soon-to-be president has his own thoughts on common standards, common sense and much more, which he shares in “A Conversation with … Frank Pugh."  President-elect Pugh knows all about the financial facts of life for school board members.

“My entire career of 31 years now has always been cast in the shadow of doubt about education funding,” Pugh says.

Brian Taylor (btaylor@csba.org) is the managing editor of California Schools.