Economic crisis spurs personal finance classes - DEANNA MARTIN, Associated Press

Schools once routinely covered basic finances such as balancing a checkbook, Levine said. Over the last several decades, educators started focusing more on college preparatory classes like science and math, she said, and the emphasis on basic living skills eroded. A survey last year found that many teenagers struggle with finance. High school seniors averaged correct answers on only 48 percent of personal finance and economic questions, according to the nationwide survey released last year by the Federal Reserve. That was down from 52 percent in the previous survey in 2006 and marked the worst score of six surveys conducted so far.