I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1645 

To provide grants to promote financial and economic literacy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide grants to promote financial and economic literacy. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Financial and Eco5 nomic Literacy Improvement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC LITERACY EDUCATION 

7 GRANTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title V of the Elemen9 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

10 7241 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 5537 

11 the following: 


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1 ‘‘Subpart 13A—Financial and Economic Literacy 

2 Education 

3 ‘‘SEC. 5538. FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC LITERACY EDU4 CATION GRANTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall award 

6 grants to eligible entities to enable such entities— 

7 ‘‘(1) to award subgrants to local entities to pro8 vide financial and economic literacy education; and 

9 ‘‘(2) to carry out activities designed to promote 

10 financial and economic literacy education. 

11 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this section, the term 

12 ‘eligible entity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(1) a State educational agency; or 

14 ‘‘(2) a State partnership consisting of— 

15 ‘‘(A) a State educational agency; 

16 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit organization with experi17 ence and a proven quality track record in finan18 cial and economic literacy or personal finance 

19 education programs; and 

20 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization with experi21 ence and a proven track record in quality pro22 fessional development for teachers leading to 

23 higher student achievement in skills and sub24 jects integral to financial and economic literacy 

25 or personal finance education. 


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1 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

2 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica3 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

4 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

5 require. 

6 ‘‘(d) FORMULA.—From the total amount appro7 priated under subsection (g) for a fiscal year, the Sec8 retary shall allot to each State for such fiscal year an 

9 amount that bears the same relation to such total amount 

10 as the amount such State received under part A of title 

11 I for such fiscal year bears to the total amount received 

12 by all States under part A of title I for such fiscal year. 

13 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTI15 TIES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE LOCAL ENTITY.—In this 

17 section, the term ‘eligible local entity’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) a local educational agency; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) a local partnership consisting 

20 of— 

21 ‘‘(I) a local educational agency; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(II) not less than 1 of the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(aa) A nonprofit organiza2 tion with experience and a proven 

3 track record in quality financial 

4 and economic literacy or personal 

5 finance education programs. 

6 ‘‘(bb) A nonprofit organiza7 tion with experience and a proven 

8 track record in quality profes9 sional development for teachers 

10 leading to higher student achieve11 ment in skills and subjects inte12 gral to financial and economic lit13 eracy or personal finance edu14 cation. 

15 ‘‘(cc) An educational service 

16 agency. 

17 ‘‘(dd) A recipient of an Ex18 cellence in Economic Education 

19 grant under subpart 13. 

20 ‘‘(ee) An institution of high21 er education. 

22 ‘‘(ff) A community organiza23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(gg) A representative of 

25 local business. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF SUBGRANTS.— 

2 An eligible entity that receives a grant under 

3 this section shall use 75 percent of such grant 

4 funds to award subgrants to eligible local enti5 ties. 

6 ‘‘(C) APPLICATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local 

8 entity that desires to receive a subgrant 

9 under this paragraph shall submit an ap10 plication to the eligible entity at such time, 

11 in such manner, and accompanied by such 

12 information as the eligible entity may re13 quire. 

14 ‘‘(ii) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—The 

15 eligible entity shall review applications sub16 mitted under clause (i) in the same man17 ner as applications are reviewed under sec18 tion 5534(b). 

19 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible local 

20 entity that receives a subgrant under this para21 graph— 

22 ‘‘(i) shall use the subgrant funds to— 

23 ‘‘(I) implement teacher training 

24 programs to embed financial and eco25 nomic literacy and personal finance 


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1 education into core academic subjects 

2 or to effectively coordinate the teach3 ing of core academic subjects with 

4 teaching of financial and economic lit5 eracy and personal finance education; 

6 ‘‘(II) administer financial and 

7 economic literacy assessments on not 

8 less than an annual basis in, at a 

9 minimum, the grade levels selected by 

10 the State pursuant to paragraph 

11 (2)(A); and 

12 ‘‘(III) implement financial and 

13 economic literacy activities and se14 quences of study within, or coordi15 nated with, core academic subjects; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(ii) may use the subgrant funds to 

18 implement school-based activities, including 

19 after school activities, to enhance student 

20 understanding and experiential learning 

21 with consumer, economic, and personal fi22 nance concepts. 

23 ‘‘(E) REPORT.—An eligible local entity 

24 that receives a subgrant under this paragraph 

25 shall include in the annual report card under 


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1 section 1111(h)(2) the same information on 

2 student achievement on the financial and eco3 nomic literacy assessments, administered pursu4 ant to subparagraph (D), as required, pursuant 

5 to section 1111(h)(2), of the other State aca6 demic assessments described in section 

7 1111(b)(3). 

8 ‘‘(2) STATE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

9 that receives a grant under this section shall use 25 

10 percent of such grant funds to carry out the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(A) The development of financial and eco13 nomic literacy standards in not less than 3 

14 grade levels, including not less than 1 grade 

15 level in elementary school, not less than 1 grade 

16 level in middle school, and not less than 1 grade 

17 level in high school. 

18 ‘‘(B) The development of appropriate fi19 nancial and economic literacy assessments in 

20 the grade levels determined under subparagraph 

21 (A) that are valid, reliable, and comparable 

22 across the State. 

23 ‘‘(C) Teacher professional development 

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1 eracy or personal finance education into core 

2 academic subjects. 

3 ‘‘(D) An evaluation of the impact of finan4 cial and economic literacy or personal finance 

5 education on students’ understanding of finan6 cial and economic literacy concepts. 

7 ‘‘(f) MATCHING FUNDS.—An eligible entity that re8 ceives a grant under this section shall provide, from non9 Federal sources, an amount equal to 25 percent of the 

10 amount of the grant award to carry out activities required 

11 under this section. 

12 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 5539. FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC LITERACY AND 

16 ECONOMIC EDUCATION CLEARINGHOUSE. 

17 ‘‘(a) CLEARINGHOUSE.—The Secretary shall main18 tain a clearinghouse of best practices, tools, and instruc19 tional materials for financial and economic literacy and 

20 personal finance instruction, aligned with voluntary na21 tionally recognized curriculum standards in such areas, for 

22 students of elementary school, secondary school, and post23 secondary school age (to be known as the ‘Financial and 

24 Economic Literacy and Economic Education Clearing25 house’). 


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1 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The Financial and Economic Lit2 eracy and Economic Education Clearinghouse shall collect 

3 and disseminate high-quality materials on financial and 

4 economic literacy, including best practices, professional 

5 development, and teaching tools that are aligned with vol6 untary nationally recognized curriculum standards in such 

7 areas. 

8 ‘‘(c) ACCESSIBILITY.—The information of the Finan9 cial and Economic Literacy and Economic Education 

10 Clearinghouse shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) be housed in a centrally accessible and 

12 user-friendly format and location; and 

13 ‘‘(2) be easily accessible from the Department 

14 of Education website. 

15 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

18 2010 through 2015.’’. 

19 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

20 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

21 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

22 to section 5537 the following: 

‘‘Subpart 13A—Financial and Economic Literacy Education 

‘‘Sec. 5538. Financial and economic literacy education grants. 

‘‘Sec. 5539. Financial and Economic Literacy and Economic Education Clearinghouse.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROMOTE POSTSECONDARY FINANCIAL 

2 AND ECONOMIC LITERACY. 

3 Part A of title III of the Higher Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1057 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 318. GRANTS TO PROMOTE POSTSECONDARY FINAN7 CIAL AND ECONOMIC LITERACY. 

8 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT AWARDS.—The Sec9 retary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligi10 ble entities to enable such entities to provide financial and 

11 economic literacy courses or course components to stu12 dents. 

13 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec14 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

15 ‘‘(1) an institution of higher education; or 

16 ‘‘(2) a partnership consisting of— 

17 ‘‘(A) an institution of higher education; 

18 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit organization with experi19 ence and a proven track record in quality finan20 cial and economic literacy or personal finance 

21 education programs; and 

22 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization with experi23 ence and a proven track record in quality pro24 fessional development for teachers leading to 

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1 jects integral to financial and economic literacy 

2 or personal financial education. 

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

4 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica5 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

6 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

7 require. 

8 ‘‘(d) MINIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary 

9 shall award grants under this section in amounts of not 

10 less than $500,000. 

11 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

12 a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to 

13 develop and implement financial and economic literacy 

14 education, activities, student organizations, or counseling 

15 that increase student knowledge in consumer, economic, 

16 and personal financial concepts. 

17 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $125,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

20 2015.’’. 

Æ 


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