,” about two male penguins who raise a young chick together, to classic novels by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, including “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye.”But there’s a flip side to the Florida book bans under Ron DeSantis’s governorship. It’s the curriculum the stateon its use of right-wing, evangelical personal finance pundit Dave Ramsey’s religiously inspired and sometimes factually challenged textbook in the school’s financial literacy classes.
Ramsey so hates credit cards, he tells teenagers they “don’t need a credit score” because “debt-free people don’t need a credit score!” Car leases and loans are a no-no for Ramsey, too — which sounds good till you remember how poor public transit is in much of the United States, and that in many places people can’t work if they don’t own a car.
Then there is the religious angle. Ramsey’s budgeting advice begins with telling students “giving is your first priority in your budget” and instructing them to give away 10 percent of their income — which sounds suspiciously like tithing. Proverbs from the Bible are sprinkled throughout the text.Taken altogether, this isn’t a solid financial education. It’s indoctrination — in Ramsey’s brand, religious beliefs and sometimes not-financially-sound worldview.