Daytona Beach teacher urges moving financial literacy to upper grades, more diverse business guest speakers

Tom Leake, a teacher with 25 years at Pine Ridge High School in Deltona, testified during the public comment portion of the PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee conference meeting and recommended moving the required financial literacy course to a later grade and creating a guest-speaker program to promote business ownership among underrepresented groups.

Leake told the committee he lives in Daytona Beach and that many teachers at his school believe the financial literacy course would be better suited for 11th or 12th grade rather than being taught to ninth graders. He said the curriculum itself is “excellent,” but that the timing reduces its practical usefulness.

Leake also said community members encouraged more visible examples of successful entrepreneurship in Florida. He said data he reviewed showed women constitute less than half of business owners in the state and that African American and Hispanic ownership rates lag their population shares. He recommended a system of diverse guest speakers who could tell students, “I started a business, and it was successful, and it is worth doing in the state.”

Leake framed both suggestions as practical classroom improvements and community-engagement steps rather than specific statutory requests. The committee did not take formal action in response to his remarks during this meeting; members noted the public comment and adjourned.

Leake concluded his remarks by thanking members for their time.