When John Tibbetts retired in 2004 from a career as Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, he became an economics schoolteacher; he taught for 11 years in Georgia and was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2018 for his work. Now retired (except for occasional substitute teaching in the Portland school district), he wanted to give back and help provide Oregon students with opportunities and resources in economic education. Having found the Georgia Council on Economics Education a tremendous resource during his teaching career, he sought out the Oregon Council on Economics Education (OCEE) and now serves as Board Chair. Senior Wealth Strategist Glen Goland, JD, CFP®, who also sits on the OCEE Board, sat down with him for an Ask the Expert podcast to discuss the current state of economics education in Oregon.

“At one time, Oregon was a national leader in economics education,” John explains. But now, he says, it has become “hit or miss, scattershot.” The requirement for students to complete an economics class to graduate was eliminated in the 1980s; though there are some standards for personal finance and economics, there’s no requirement for a class in order for students to graduate. Some districts do offer personal finance and economics courses or curriculum topics, but many do not.

Fortunately, Senate Bill 3 recently passed in Oregon, which will require a half credit of personal finance beginning in 2026. Now, John and another OCEE teacher are working with the Oregon Department of Education Standards Commission to write standards for the personal finance requirement, while OCEE is developing resources to help prepare schools and teachers.

John and Glen also talk about some of OCEE’s programs to help engage students outside of school. John describes the OCEE’s Stock Market Game, which helps students learn about investing and the stock market, and the Economics Challenge, in which high school students compete to showcase their economic knowledge. Invest in Girls is a new program rolling out soon as part of the national Council on Economic Education that will focus on financial planning education for girls. All OCEE programs are free of charge to participating schools and students.

Listen to the full podcast on YouTube here or SoundCloud here.

You can also learn more about OCEE at https://econoregon.org/.