Learning Finance: Making Students Investors in Their Own Schools
How PSwrx Is Transforming School Buildings Into Student Assets
Diane Flynn, CEO
"That's not for us."
This was one student’s response to a question posed by Mike Mann, a twenty-year veteran school principal at North Star Academy in Newark. Mike had asked his financial literacy class what they thought about the city's recent investments - the downtown rehabilitation, the new Whole Foods, Starbucks, and restaurants popping up across Newark."Nobody made those investments for us. They definitely don't want me in Whole Foods."
The student’s comment speaks to a larger truth: too often, capital flows around communities instead of through them—failing to reach the very people it was meant to uplift. If you work in economic development, this reality is jarring. Many of us are guided by the belief that a rising tide lifts all boats. But the data tells a different story.
Income disparities are growing, even in neighborhoods that experience economic development. Each year charter school real estate projects build wealth for developers, lenders, and landlords—not for students or their families.This is a missed opportunity.
Students with savings of just $500 are 4× more likely to graduate from college than peers without.
Research shows that youth with access to even modest financial assets show stronger college attendance, completion rates, and future savings behavior.
So at PSwrx, we’re asking a new question: What if we reimagine school buildings from cost centers to sustainable sources of wealth-building for students? Students become investors who earn returns alongside market players.
Introducing PSwrx's Learning Finance: a charter school loan fund that creates a direct capital pathway from schools to students. Values-aligned capital flows to schools. Financial education and seed capital flow to students. It's a sustainable cycle that builds both school capacity and student wealth.
Learning Finance is how we ensure all the boats rise—this time with students on board.