NEW LOUISIANA SCHOOL REQUIREMENT: When Louisiana students get in the classroom this year, they will be studying skills like how to balance a checkbook, determining payroll deductions, and understanding mortgages. Thanks to the unanimous passage of La. House Bill 401 sponsored by Rep. Gene Reynolds, (D) of Dubberly, La; high school students will now be required to learn financial skills to better enable them to deal with real-world money issues once they graduate.