FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

September 22, 2004
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Treasury Under Secretary Brian Roseboro Opens Third Meeting of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission

Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Brian Roseboro today opened the third meeting of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission. Under Secretary Roseboro welcomed the 20 Commission representatives, thanked them for their hard work and announced the October 12 launch of a national financial education toll-free hotline and website. Roseboro also commended participants for efforts to develop the first ever national strategy for financial education and welcomed guest presenters.

Under Secretary Roseboro commended the Commission's work, as well as that of the nonprofit and private sectors. "I'd like to commend the 20 agencies represented here for your continued commitment to financial education, which is demonstrated by your attendance today, but also, more importantly, by each of your agency's hard work on this critical issue," said Roseboro. "As you know, as much as we learn from each other, there is much to learn from the larger financial education community, which extends well beyond the Commission membership," Roseboro continued.

Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Wayne A. Abernathy chaired today's meeting. Representatives of the Commission's website and hotline subcommittee, as well as the national strategy working group, discussed each of the groups' progress to date. Government, nonprofit, and private sector guest speakers gave presentations on financial education best practices.

The members of the Commission heard from the subcommittees, which were established at the inaugural meeting in January, on their progress in developing and maintaining a national financial education website and toll-free hotline to help all Americans easily access information on federal financial education resources and programs. The representative from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission presenting on behalf of the Commission's website subcommittee and the representative for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation presenting on behalf of the hotline subcommittee, reported significant progress had been made and that the Commission would be ready to launch both components simultaneously in English and Spanish on October 12, 2004.

Treasury's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education, Dan Iannicola, Jr. presented on the work of the Commission's national strategy working group, which was established at the second meeting last May. Iannicola presented on progress in developing a national inventory of federal financial education resources. He also highlighted that the Commission is currently requesting public comment on best practices for a nationwide strategy on financial education, and reminded today's meeting attendees that the comment period runs through the end of October of 2004.

Other guest speakers representing the government, nonprofit and private sectors discussed financial education best practices in their organizations. In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Commission heard from the Federal Trade Commission about best practices in financial education outreach to the Hispanic community. Rosario Mendez, Hispanic Outreach Coordinator for FTC, discussed the agency's concerted effort to provide information on a variety of consumer topics through the agency's website and national public outreach campaign in Spanish.

Recognizing the back to school season, the Commission heard from several presenters on best practices to help teach students personal finance basics. Wisconsin's Department of Financial Institutions Office of Financial Education Director David Mancl discussed weeklong teacher-training courses offered to Wisconsin educators for which they earn graduate credit. Darrell Luzzo, Senior Vice President for Junior Achievement Worldwide, described Junior Achievement's financial education programs spanning grades K-12, and its site-based program, JA Enterprise Village. Finally, Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition Manager Stephen Clausen and Managing Editor Krishnan Anantharaman described the award-winning educational program developed by the publishers of the Wall Street Journal, which focuses on preparing young people for the decisions that will shape their economic future.

The Financial Literacy and Education Commission was created by Title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, signed by President Bush on December 4, 2003.  The Commission is composed of the Secretary of the Treasury and the heads of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; the Office of Thrift Supervision; the Federal Reserve; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the National Credit Union Administration; the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Affairs; the Federal Trade Commission; the General Services Administration; the Small Business Administration; the Social Security Administration; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and the Office of Personnel Management.

The Department of the Treasury is a leader in promoting financial education.  Treasury established the Office of Financial Education in May of 2002. The Office works to promote access to the financial education tools that can help all Americans make wiser choices in all areas of personal financial management, with a special emphasis on saving, credit management, homeownership and retirement planning.  The Office also coordinates the efforts of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, a group chaired by the Secretary of Treasury and composed of representatives from 20 federal departments, agencies and commissions, which works to improve financial literacy and education for people throughout the United States.  For more information about the Office of Financial Education visit:  www.treas.gov/financialeducation.

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