Economics

Introduction

(1) Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits is the culmination of the economic content and concepts studied from Kindergarten through required secondary courses. The focus is on the basic principles concerning production, consumption, and distribution of goods and services (the problem of scarcity) in the United States and a comparison with those in other countries around the world. Students analyze the interaction of supply, demand, and price. Students will investigate the concepts of specialization and international trade, economic growth, key economic measurements, and monetary and fiscal policy. Students will study the roles of the Federal Reserve System and other financial institutions, government, and businesses in a free enterprise system. Types of business ownership and market structures are discussed. The course also incorporates instruction in personal financial literacy. Students apply critical-thinking skills using economic concepts to evaluate the costs and benefits of economic issues.

(2) Students identify the role of the U.S. free enterprise system within the parameters of this course and understand that this system may also be referenced as capitalism or the free market system.

(3) Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits builds upon the foundation in economics and social studies laid by the social studies essential knowledge and skills in Kindergarten-Grade 12. The course will apply these skills to current economic situations. The content enables students to understand the importance of patriotism, function in a free enterprise society, and appreciate the basic democratic values of our state and nation as referenced in the Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.002(h).

(4) Students understand that a constitutional republic is a representative form of government whose representatives derive their authority from the consent of the governed, serve for an established tenure, and are sworn to uphold the constitution.

(5) As referenced in House Bill 492, an act of the Texas Legislature signed into law in 2005, the concepts of personal financial literacy are to be mastered by students in order that they may become self-supporting adults who can make informed decisions relating to personal financial matters. These concepts are incorporated into the student expectations of Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits: understanding interest, avoiding and eliminating credit card debt; understanding the rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home; managing money to make the transition from renting a home to home ownership; starting a small business; being a prudent investor in the stock market and using other investment options; beginning a savings program and planning for retirement; bankruptcy; types of bank accounts available to consumers and benefits of maintaining a bank account; balancing a checkbook; types of loans available to consumers and becoming a low-risk borrower; understanding insurance; and charitable giving.

(6) State and federal laws mandate a variety of celebrations and observances, including Celebrate Freedom Week.

(A) Each social studies class shall include, during Celebrate Freedom Week as provided under the TEC, §29.907, or during another full school week as determined by the board of trustees of a school district, appropriate instruction concerning the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical contexts. The study of the Declaration of Independence must include the study of the relationship of the ideas expressed in that document to subsequent American history, including the relationship of its ideas to the rich diversity of our people as a nation of immigrants, the American Revolution, the formulation of the U.S. Constitution, and the abolitionist movement, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the women's suffrage movement.

(B) Each school district shall require that, during Celebrate Freedom Week or other week of instruction prescribed under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, students in Grades 3-12 study and recite the following text from the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."

(7) Students discuss how and whether the actions of U.S. citizens and the local, state, and federal governments have achieved the ideals espoused in the founding documents.

Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS)