Some educators and lawmakers say the new requirement is a good start but have raised concerns about its implementation, questioning whether students completing online lessons will receive the same quality of instruction as those enrolled in a semester-long course. More than two dozen states require students to complete a stand-alone personal finance class to graduate, and more than 20 require teachers to hold relevant licenses or complete training to lead these courses.

Some advocates would like Hawaiʻi to follow suit.

“The argument we’ve been making is students in every school would benefit from this sort of robust financial literacy experience,” said David Sun-Miyashiro, executive director of the advocacy group HawaiʻiKidsCAN. “So we were just concerned that the flexibility would basically codify unequal experiences across the system.”