Financial Education Action by the NJ State Senate

The New Jersy State Senate, Education Committee passed an interesting bill on February 14th. The measure calls for a pilot program to provide financial education to six school districts on an experimental basis.

A small step but it is a start. As I called for in my prior post, the public schools must get more active in teaching financial life skills.

Text of the bill follows.

Patrick Ryan
Chairman
Hopewell Valley Community Bank


SENATE, No. 541
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
213th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2008 SESSION


Sponsored by:
Senator JOHN A. GIRGENTI
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Mercer)




SYNOPSIS
Establishes pilot program in Department of Education to provide instruction in personal finance to elementary school students.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

An Act establishing a financial literacy pilot program for elementary school students in the Department of Education and supplementing chapter 6 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Commissioner of Education shall establish a three-year “Youth Investor Club Pilot Program.” It shall be the purpose of the program to provide elementary school students in selected school districts with instruction on personal financial literacy. The program shall:
(1) introduce students to basic financial concepts including savings, debt, investments, mortgages, and taxes;
(2) assist students in opening their own personal savings accounts, encourage and assist students to make monthly deposits into the accounts, and help students to develop long-term savings goals; and
(3) provide students with unique instructional opportunities, such as field trips to financial institutions and guest speakers on financial topics, that build knowledge of, and promote interest in, the wise use and planning of personal finances.
b. The commissioner shall select two districts in each of the southern, central, and northern regions of the State to participate in the program and shall seek a cross section of school districts from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State.
c. The commissioner shall provide pilot districts with curriculum and sample instructional materials that may be used to support implementation of the pilot program.
d. At the conclusion of the pilot program, the commissioner shall submit a report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature. The report shall contain information on the implementation of the pilot program and shall include the commissioner’s recommendation on the feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis.
e. The commissioner shall provide a grant to each of the pilot districts to finance the costs associated with offering the pilot program.

2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the 2007-2008 school year.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the “Youth Investor Club Pilot Program.” The purpose of the program will be to provide elementary school students in selected school districts with instruction on personal financial literacy. The program will introduce students to basic financial concepts including savings, debt, investments, mortgages, and taxes. Students in the program will receive assistance in opening their own personal savings accounts and will be encouraged to make monthly deposits and to develop long-term savings goals. The program will also provide students with unique instructional opportunities, such as field trips to financial institutions and guest speakers on financial topics, that build knowledge of, and promote interest in, the wise use and planning of personal finances.
The Commissioner of Education will select six districts for participation, two in each of the southern, central, and northern regions of the State. At the conclusion of the pilot program, the commissioner will report to the Governor and the Legislature on the feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis.