Education

Twenty-some years in the same classroom and the thing that's changed most isn't the kids — it's how much of my day goes to proving I taught instead of actually teaching. If we trusted teachers the way we trust surgeons, what would a school day even look like? I'd love to hear it from people who aren't in the building every day.

I walked the path, did the work, took the classes, checked the boxes. But the first time real economics actually reached me — the kind that shapes your life — was when I got my first 401k and had no idea what I was looking at. That's too late. I could see it in real dollars: the years that money should have been growing were the years I didn't even know the account existed. So I wish school had taught the practical stuff, first, and when I was young to shape my thinking. Not supply-and-demand curves in the abstract, but how a credit card actually works, what a 401k is, what compounding does while you're not paying attention. Start with the part a kid can feel — my money, my choices, my future — and I think most kids would want the advanced classes on their own. The curiosity follows once you show them why it matters. For me the wake-up was the dollars. For someone else it might be something more self-aware. I'd be curious when your biggest personal financial awakening was.

I wish school had spent more time on street smarts instead of just book smarts. So much of what actually shaped my life came down to reading people, handling money, knowing when to walk away from a bad deal, and figuring out who to trust — none of which showed up on a test. What's one street-smart lesson you had to learn the hard way that you think should be taught in school?

Schools should teach basic statistics and how to spot a misleading chart, so people can read the news critically.