II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1487

To provide for excellence in economic education, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 4, 1999

Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Mr. COCHRAN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. INOUYE, and Mr.

KERREY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide for excellence in economic education, and for

other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. EXCELLENCE IN ECONOMIC EDUCATION.

4 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title X of the Elementary and

5 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001 et

6 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘PART L—EXCELLENCE IN ECONOMIC

2 EDUCATION

3 ‘‘SEC. 10995. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

4 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This part may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Excellence in Economic Education Act of 1999’’.

6 ‘‘(b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings:

8 ‘‘(1) The need for economic literacy in the

9 United States has grown exponentially in the 1990’s

10 as a result of rapid technological advancements and

11 increasing globalization, giving individuals in the

12 United States more numerous and complex economic

13 and financial choices than ever before as members of

14 the workforce, managers of their families’ resources,

15 and voting citizens.

16 ‘‘(2) Individuals in the United States lack es17 sential economic knowledge, as demonstrated in a

18 1998–1999 test conducted by the National Council

19 on Economic Education, a private nonprofit organi20 zation. The test results indicated the following:

21 ‘‘(A) Students and adults alike lack a basic

22 understanding of core economic concepts such

23 as scarcity of resources and inflation, with less

24 than half of those tested demonstrating knowl25 edge of those basic concepts.
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‘‘(B) A little more than 1 1 ⁄3 of those tested

2 realize that society must make choices about

3 how to use resources.

‘‘(C) Only 1 4 ⁄3 of those tested understand

5 that active competition in the marketplace

6 serves to lower prices and improve product

7 quality.

‘‘(D) Slightly more than 1 8 ⁄2 of adults in

the United States and less than 1 9 ⁄4 of students

10 in the United States know that a Federal budg11 et deficit is created when the Federal Govern12 ment’s expenditures exceed its revenues in a

13 year.

14 ‘‘(E) Overall, adults received a grade of 57

15 percent on the test and secondary school stu16 dents received a grade of 48 percent on the

17 test.

18 ‘‘(F) Despite those poor results, the test

19 pointed out that individuals in the United

20 States realize the need for understanding basic

21 economic concepts, with 96 percent of adults

22 tested believing that basic economics should be

23 taught in secondary school.

24 ‘‘(3) A range of trends points to the need for

25 individuals in the United States to receive a prac-
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1 tical economics education that will give the individ2 uals tools to make responsible choices about their

3 limited financial resources, choices which face all

4 people regardless of their financial circumstances.

5 Examples of the trends are the following:

6 ‘‘(A) The number of personal bankruptcies

7 in the United States continued to rise and set

8 new records in the 1990’s, despite the longest

9 peacetime economic expansion in United States

10 history. One in every 70 United States house11 holds filed for bankruptcy in 1998. Rising

12 bankruptcies have an impact on the cost and

13 availability of consumer credit which in turn

14 negatively affect overall economic growth.

15 ‘‘(B) Credit card delinquencies in the

16 United States rose to 1.83 percent in 1998,

17 which is a percentage not seen since 1992 when

18 the effects of a recession were still strong.

19 ‘‘(C) The personal savings rate in the

20 United States over the 5 years ending in 1998

21 averaged only 4.5 percent. In the first quarter

22 of 1999, the personal savings rate dropped to

23 negative 0.4 percent. A decline in savings rates

24 reduces potential investment and economic

25 growth.
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1 ‘‘(D) By 2030, the number of older per2 sons in the United States will grow to

3 70,000,000, more than twice the number of

4 older persons in the United States in 1997. The

5 additional older persons will add significantly to

6 the population of retirees in the United States

7 and require a shift in private and public re8 sources to attend to their specific needs. The

9 needs will have dramatic, long-term economic

10 consequences for younger generations of indi11 viduals in the United States workforce who will

12 need to plan well in order to support their fami13 lies and ensure themselves a secure retirement.

14 ‘‘(4) The third National Education Goal puts

15 economics forth as 1 of 9 core content areas in

16 which teaching, learning, and students’ mastery of

17 basic and advanced skills must improve.

18 ‘‘(5) The National Council on Economic Edu19 cation presents a compelling case for doing more to

20 meet the need for economic literacy. While an under21 standing of economics is necessary to help the next

22 generation to think, choose, and function in a chang23 ing global economy, economics has too often been

24 neglected in schools.
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1 ‘‘(6) States’ requirements for economic and per2 sonal finance education are insufficient as evidenced

3 by the fact that, while 39 States have adopted edu4 cational standards (including guidelines or proficien5 cies) in economics—

6 ‘‘(A) only 13 of those States require all

7 students to take a course in economics before

8 graduating from secondary school;

9 ‘‘(B) only 25 States administer tests to de10 termine whether students meet the standards;

11 and

12 ‘‘(C) only 27 States require that the stand13 ards be implemented in schools.

14 ‘‘(7) Improved and enhanced national, State,

15 and local economic education efforts, conducted as

16 part of the Campaign for Economic Literacy led by

17 the National Council on Economic Education, will

18 help individuals become informed consumers, con19 scientious savers, prudent investors, productive

20 workforce members, responsible citizens, and effec21 tive participants in the global economy.

22 ‘‘(8)(A) Founded in 1949, the National Council

23 on Economic Education is the preeminent economic

24 education organization in the United States, having
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1 a nationwide network that supports economic edu2 cation in the Nation’s schools.

3 ‘‘(B) This network supports teacher prepared4 ness in economics through—

5 ‘‘(i) inservice teacher education;

6 ‘‘(ii) classroom-tested materials and appro7 priate curricula;

8 ‘‘(iii) evaluation, assessment, and research

9 on economics education; and

10 ‘‘(iv) suggested content standards for eco11 nomics.

12 ‘‘(9) The National Council on Economic Edu13 cation network includes affiliated State Councils on

14 Economic Education and more than 275 university

15 or college-based Centers for Economic Education.

16 This network represents a unique partnership among

17 leaders in education, business, economics, and labor,

18 the purpose of which is to effectively deliver eco19 nomic education throughout the United States.

20 ‘‘(10) Each year the National Council on Eco21 nomic Education network trains 120,000 teachers,

22 reaching more than 7,000,000 students. By

23 strengthening the Council’s nationwide network, the

24 Council can reach more of the Nation’s 50,000,000

25 students.
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1 ‘‘(11) The National Council on Economic Edu2 cation conducts an international economic education

3 program that provides information on market prin4 ciples to the world (particularly emerging democ5 racies) through teacher training, materials trans6 lation and development, study tours, conferences,

7 and research and evaluation. As a result of those ac8 tivities, the National Council on Economic Edu9 cation is helping to support educational reform and

10 build economic education infrastructures in emerg11 ing market economies, and reinforcing the national

12 interest of the United States.

13 ‘‘(12) Evaluation results of economics education

14 activities support the following conclusions:

15 ‘‘(A) Inservice education in economics for

16 teachers contributes significantly to students’

17 gains in economic knowledge.

18 ‘‘(B) Secondary school students who have

19 taken economics courses perform significantly

20 better on tests of economic literacy than do

21 their counterparts who have not taken econom22 ics.

23 ‘‘(C) Economics courses contribute signifi24 cantly more to gains in economic knowledge
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1 than does integration of economics into other

2 subjects.

3 ‘‘(13) Through partnerships, the National

4 Council on Economic Education network leverages

5 support for its mission by raising $35,000,000 from

6 the private sector, universities, and States.

7 ‘‘SEC. 10996. EXCELLENCE IN ECONOMIC EDUCATION.

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to pro9 mote economic literacy among all United States students

10 in kindergarten through grade 12 by enhancing national

11 leadership in economic education through the strength12 ening of a nationwide economic education network and the

13 provision of resources to appropriate State and local enti14 ties.

15 ‘‘(b) GOALS.—The goals of this part are—

16 ‘‘(1) to increase students’ knowledge of and

17 achievement in economics to enable the students to

18 become more productive and informed citizens;

19 ‘‘(2) to strengthen teachers’ understanding of

20 and competency in economics to enable the teachers

21 to increase student mastery of economic principles

22 and their practical application;

23 ‘‘(3) to encourage economic education research

24 and development, to disseminate effective instruc25 tional materials, and to promote replication of best
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1 practices and exemplary programs that foster eco2 nomic literacy;

3 ‘‘(4) to assist States in measuring the impact of

4 education in economics, which is 1 of 9 national core

5 content areas described in section 306(c) of the

6 Goals 2000: Educate America Act (20 U.S.C.

7 5886(c));

8 ‘‘(5) to extend strong economic education deliv9 ery systems to every State; and

10 ‘‘(6) to leverage and expand private and public

11 support for economic education partnerships at na12 tional, State, and local levels.

13 ‘‘SEC. 10997. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

14 ‘‘(a) GRANTS TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ECO15 NOMIC EDUCATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized

17 to award a grant to the National Council on Eco18 nomic Education (referred to in this section as the

19 ‘grantee’), which is a nonprofit educational organiza20 tion that has as its primary purpose the improve21 ment of the quality of student understanding of eco22 nomics through effective teaching of economics in

23 the Nation’s classrooms.

24 ‘‘(2) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) ONE-QUARTER.—The grantee shall

use 1 2 ⁄4 of the funds made available through the

3 grant and not reserved under subsection (f) for

4 a fiscal year—

5 ‘‘(i) to strengthen and expand the

6 grantee’s nationwide network on economic

7 education;

8 ‘‘(ii) to support and promote training,

9 of teachers who teach a grade from kinder10 garten through grade 12, regarding eco11 nomics, including the dissemination of in12 formation on effective practices and re13 search findings regarding the teaching of

14 economics;

15 ‘‘(iii) to support research on effective

16 teaching practices and the development of

17 assessment instruments to document stu18 dent performance;

19 ‘‘(iv) to develop and disseminate ap20 propriate materials to foster economic lit21 eracy; and

22 ‘‘(v) to coordinate activities assisted

23 under this section with activities assisted

24 under title II.
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1 ‘‘(B) THREE-QUARTERS.—The grantee

shall use 3 2 ⁄4 of the funds made available

3 through the grant and not reserved under sub4 section (f) for a fiscal year to award grants to

5 State economic education councils, or in the

6 case of a State that does not have a State eco7 nomic education council, a center for economic

8 education (which council or center shall be re9 ferred to in this section as a ‘recipient’). The

10 grantee shall award such a grant to pay for the

11 Federal share of the cost of enabling the recipi12 ent to work in partnership with 1 or more of

13 the entities described in paragraph (3) for 1 or

14 more of the following purposes:

15 ‘‘(i) Collaboratively establishing and

16 conducting teacher training programs that

17 use effective and innovative approaches to

18 the teaching of economics.

19 ‘‘(ii) Providing resources to school dis20 tricts that want to incorporate economics

21 into the curricula of the schools in the dis22 tricts.

23 ‘‘(iii) Conducting evaluations of the

24 impact of economic education on students.
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1 ‘‘(iv) Conducting economic education

2 research.

3 ‘‘(v) Creating and conducting school4 based student activities to promote con5 sumer, economic, and personal finance

6 education, such as saving, investing, and

7 entrepreneurial education, and to encour8 age awareness and student achievement in

9 economics.

10 ‘‘(vi) Establishing interstate and

11 international student and teacher ex12 changes to promote economic literacy.

13 ‘‘(vii) Encouraging replication of best

14 practices to encourage economic literacy.

15 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND

16 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The grantee shall—

17 ‘‘(i) meet such other requirements as

18 the Secretary determines to be necessary

19 to assure compliance with this section; and

20 ‘‘(ii) provide such technical assistance

21 as may be necessary to carry out this sec22 tion.

23 ‘‘(3) PARTNERSHIP ENTITIES.—The entities re24 ferred to in paragraph (2)(B) are the following:

25 ‘‘(A) A private sector entity.
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1 ‘‘(B) A State educational agency.

2 ‘‘(C) A local educational agency.

3 ‘‘(D) An institution of higher education.

4 ‘‘(E) Another organization promoting eco5 nomic development.

6 ‘‘(F) Another organization promoting edu7 cational excellence.

8 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The grantee

9 and each recipient receiving a grant under this sec10 tion for a fiscal year may use not more than 25 per11 cent of the funds made available through the grant

12 for administrative costs.

13 ‘‘(b) TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the teacher

15 training programs described in subsection (a)(2)(B)

16 a recipient shall—

17 ‘‘(A) train teachers who teach a grade

18 from kindergarten through grade 12;

19 ‘‘(B) conduct programs taught by qualified

20 teacher trainers who can tap the expertise,

21 knowledge, and experience of classroom teach22 ers, private sector leaders, and other members

23 of the community involved, for the training; and

24 ‘‘(C) encourage teachers from disciplines

25 other than economics to participate in such
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1 teacher training programs, if the training will

2 promote the economic understanding of their

3 students.

4 ‘‘(2) RELEASE TIME.—Funds made available

5 under this section for the teacher training programs

6 described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sub7 section (a)(2) may be used to pay for release time

8 for teachers and teacher trainers who participate in

9 the training.

10 ‘‘(c) INVOLVEMENT OF BUSINESS COMMUNITY.—In

11 carrying out the activities assisted under this part the

12 grantee and recipients are encouraged to—

13 ‘‘(1) include interactions with the local business

14 community to the fullest extent possible, to reinforce

15 the connection between economic education and eco16 nomic development; and

17 ‘‘(2) work with private businesses to obtain

18 matching contributions for Federal funds and assist

19 recipients in working toward self-sufficiency.

20 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the

22 cost described in subsection (a)(2)(B) shall be 50

23 percent. The Federal share of the cost of estab24 lishing a State council on economic education or a
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1 center for economic education under subsection (f),

2 for 1 fiscal year only, shall be 75 percent.

3 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal

4 share may be paid in cash or in kind, fairly evalu5 ated, including plant, equipment, or services.

6 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—

7 ‘‘(1) GRANTEE.—To be eligible to receive a

8 grant under this section, the grantee shall submit to

9 the Secretary an application at such time, in such

10 manner, and accompanied by such information as

11 the Secretary may require.

12 ‘‘(2) RECIPIENTS.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re14 ceive a grant under this section, a recipient

15 shall submit an application to the grantee at

16 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by

17 such information as the grantee may require.

18 ‘‘(B) REVIEW.—The grantee shall invite

19 the individuals described in subparagraph (C)

20 to review all applications from recipients for a

21 grant under this section and to make rec22 ommendations to the grantee regarding the

23 funding of the applications.

24 ‘‘(C) INDIVIDUALS.—The individuals re25 ferred to in subparagraph (B) are the following:
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1 ‘‘(i) Leaders in the fields of economics

2 and education.

3 ‘‘(ii) Such other individuals as the

4 grantee determines to be necessary.

5 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE.—For each State that does not

6 have a recipient in the State, as determined by the grant7 ee, not less than the greater of 1.5 percent or $100,000

8 of the total amount appropriated under subsection (i), for

9 1 fiscal year, shall be made available to the State to pay

10 for the Federal share of the cost of establishing a State

11 council on economic education or a center for economic

12 education in partnership with a private sector entity, an

13 institution of higher education, the State educational

14 agency, and other organizations.

15 ‘‘(g) SUPPLEMENT AND NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds ap16 propriated under this section shall be used to supplement

17 and not supplant other Federal, State, and local funds ex18 pended for the purpose described in section 10996(a).

19 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare and sub20 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report

21 regarding activities assisted under this section not later

22 than 2 years after the date funds are first appropriated

23 under subsection (i) and every 2 years thereafter.

24 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

25 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part
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1 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, and such sums as may

2 be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’.

3 (b) RELATED AMENDMENTS.—The Elementary and

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et

5 seq.) is amended—

6 (1) in section 2103(a)(2)(I) (20 U.S.C.

7 6623(a)(2)(I)), by inserting ‘‘economics,’’ after

8 ‘‘civics and government,’’;

9 (2) in section 3206(b)(4) (20 U.S.C.

10 6896(b)(4)), by inserting ‘‘economics,’’ after ‘‘his11 tory,’’;

12 (3) in section 5108(b) (20 U.S.C. 7208(b)), by

13 inserting ‘‘economics,’’ after ‘‘history,’’;

14 (4) in section 10101(b)(1)(A)(iii) (20 U.S.C.

15 8001(b)(1)(A)(iii)), by striking ‘‘and social studies’’

16 and inserting ‘‘social studies, and economics,’’;

17 (5) in section 10963(b)(4) (20 U.S.C.

18 8283(b)(4))—

19 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking

20 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;

21 (B) in subparagraph (F), by inserting

22 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and

23 (C) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(G) economic education and other pro2 grams designed to enhance economic literacy

3 and personal financial responsibility;’’; and

4 (6) in section 10974(a)(8)(H) (20 U.S.C.

5 8294(a)(8)(H)), by striking ‘‘local rural entrepre6 neurship’’ and inserting ‘‘promoting economic lit7 eracy, local rural entrepreneurship,’’.

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