Last week’s financial debacle has me thinking about a lot of things: our family’s investment accounts; the extra financial burdens of same-sex couples; how our country’s corporate and political leaders got us into this mess; how it may affect donations for and against anti-LGBT initiatives; and its impact on the presidential elections.

As a mother with a son soon to embark on the great adventure of American public education, however, I also have to wonder: Are our schools doing enough to prepare the next generation of citizens to avoid a similar crisis in the future?

The answer, it seems, is no.

Failed mortgages are one of the key causes of the financial debacle. Corporations are as much to blame for this as homeowners, but seems reasonable to assume that better financial education among consumers might have helped many of them avoid risky mortgages in the first place.

Our educational system, however, has always been weak in preparing people to manage their financial lives. I’m not talking about the details of monetary theory and the inner workings of the financial system, but rather basic knowledge of personal financial planning, like good savings habits, how to balance a checkbook, how to read the fine print on a credit card offer, and the different kinds of home mortgages and loans.

Only seven states required a personal finance class for high school graduation last year, according to the non-partisan National Council of Economic Education, up from one in 1998, but still not nearly enough. Yes, there are a number of Web sites aimed at teaching students good financial habits, and financial firms often put out learning materials for parents and teachers. These aids seem best suited for families who have the time, means, and understanding to seek them out, though.

Schools, for their part, are under such pressure from the strictures of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that they are already reducing time for common subjects such as science, social studies, art, music, and physical education. NCLB mandates that if enough students at a school fail to show adequate progress in reading and math, the schools will lose federal funds.

Finding time for financial education? Good luck. (Diversity and anti-bullying education are other losers to the pressure of NCLB, but that’s a topic for a column of its own.)

NCLB also lessens the odds that gifted students, the bright minds that we want to develop to become our future political, corporate, or cultural leaders, will have the opportunity to challenge themselves and hone their skills. Faced with hours of reading and math drills, they will tune out or act out, and graduate without fully realizing their capabilities.

This is hardly what they or our country need. (Then again, if “just an average hockey mom” might become vice president or even president, what incentive is there for striving to be above average?)

In addition to reducing time for specific subjects, NCLB also shortchanges students in the more general area of critical thinking. A study at the University of Maryland found that even in NCLB’s core subjects of reading and math, the pressure of “teaching to the test” led to “declines in teaching higher-order thinking, in the amount of time spent on complex assignments, and in the actual amount of high cognitive content in the curriculum.”

Critical thinking, however, is sorely needed today, not only to weigh one’s own financial options, but also to choose those best suited to lead our country. How to explain Sarah Palin’s appeal to voters beyond just the far right, for example, except that some are swayed simply by her gender or her small-town spitfire persona?

 There are probably supporters of Barack Obama who back him for similarly shallow reasons, although I think Palin’s more immediate celebrity, before her first national television interview, indicates an even less thoughtful consideration of her policies and track record by her supporters. I would hope, though, that voters on both sides deepen their understanding of the candidates’ values and policies and what they will mean for our country.

Combine a lack of instruction in critical thinking with the scaling back of traditional subjects like history and civics, and you have the potential for a generation that is prepared neither to lead nor to choose capable leaders.

 This is not a partisan view of matters.

Even former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, hardly a flaming liberal, has criticized the fact that NCLB has squeezed out civics education, with at least half of the states no longer making it a requirement for high school graduation.

 ”We can’t forget,” she says, “that the primary purpose of public schools in America has always been to help produce citizens who have the knowledge and the skills and the values to sustain our republic as a nation (New York Times, 6/9/2008).”

One cannot lay all the blame on schools, of course. Parents must step up to the plate and ensure their children have the skills they need to be happy individuals and responsible citizens. Schools, however, offer exposure to a different range of ideas and opinions than a parent may have, as well as opportunities for discussion and cooperation with teachers and peers.

Parents and schools each have a part to play in children’s education, and they must work together for best effect.

The economy has dominated political headlines of late, but in the crisis of the moment, we must not forget the importance of preparing for the future. A great deal of that rests on how we educate the next generation.

As LGBT parents, we have political concerns specific to LGBT rights and inclusion. At the same time, we have a deep interest in the education of our children, as well as the opportunity to connect with non-LGBT parents over this issue common to all families. It doesn’t matter whether the swing voter next to us at soccer practice is convinced to vote for our candidate because of his position on LGBT rights or on education, as long as he or she is convinced.

The current educational system is broken. Who has the best plan to fix it? How will you tell your neighbors?

Dana Rudolph is the founder and publisher of Mombian, a blog and resource directory for LGBT parents.