by Chuck Gorder

Until Spring 2006, the San Diego Center for Economic Education at Cuyamaca College was called the EconEd Foundation. While working with the various educational institutions in San Diego County, it was unaffliated. The following history traces the EconEd Foundation from its founding until present times.

EconEd Foundation ("EconEd" or the "Foundation" was formed in 1976 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Initially, its mission was to persuade individual school boards to require education in economics at the high school level. In the early years, Econ-Ed's initial efforts were with the Grossmont Union High School District. These efforts were successful primarily through the persuasive talents of Gordon Austin who was then President of the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce and also the Executive Secretary of the Foundation.

The Foundation received substantial support from east county businessmen and from the Rotary Clubs throughout the San Diego area. In 1978, a full-time director was hired and in 1980, Eleanor Tobin became the Executive Director and served in that capacity until 1990. She was succeeded by Noel Mickelson who served until 1995.

The members of the Foundation Board assisted in lobbying the state legislature and were successful in having S.B. 1213 enacted which mandated the successful completion of a semester course in Economics in order to graduate from high school.

Upon the enactment of S.B.1213, some supporters of the Foundation believed that the legislation had accomplished the mission of Econ-Ed, and ended their activity and support. However, it became abundantly clear that, as S.B. 1213 was phased in, many high school teachers assigned to teach Economics had little interest or education in economics.

Thus, starting in 1985, when S.B. 1213 became effective, the Foundation placed its main emphasis on assisting teachers in teaching economics. Mentor teachers, experienced and successful in teaching economics, were induced to serve on the Board and to hold workshops for high school economics teachers who had been assigned to teach economics.

The emphasis at these workshops was the exchange of lesson plans and the distribution of materials to assist the high school teachers in teaching basic, practical economics to students at the high school level.

Current Status

The current EconEd Board has expanded the mission of the Foundation from the high school level to include K-12. Thus, elementary school teachers, middle school teachers, as well as high school teachers are now being reached by EconEd to assit them in teaching economics for the benefit of their students.

Throughout the years, EconEd has sponsored community forums from various segments of the economy. These have included the banking industry, the stadium authority with the Chargers and the Padres present, the ship building industry, the construction industry as well as the real estate industry. Annual meetings of the Foundation are frequently held at business locations. Groups of students and teachers also meet at various business locations to observe the activites of residential construction, manufacturing, and ship building.

To this day, dedicated Board members continues to pursue the mission of the Foundation, the CCEE, and the NCEE. During 1985, Econ-Ed Foundation became a Center for Economic Education sponsored by the State University system and is the only Center that is not affiliated with a State University. In 2006, EconEd became officially affiliated with Cuyamaca College, ending 21 years of working independently. Throughout its history, organization has worked closely with the San Diego County Office of Education and hopes to continue that relationship well into the future.