I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2871
To promote youth financial education.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 15, 1999
Mr. DREIER (for himself and Mr. POMEROY) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To promote youth financial education.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROMOTING YOUTH FINANCIAL LITERACY.
Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new part:
‘‘PART L—PROMOTING YOUTH FINANCIAL
LITERACY
‘‘SEC. 10993. SHORT TITLE AND FINDINGS.
‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This part may be cited as the
‘Youth Financial Education Act’.
‘‘(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
‘‘(1) In order to succeed in our dynamic Amer-
ican economy, young people must obtain the skills,
knowledge, and experience necessary to manage their
personal finances and obtain general financial lit-
eracy. All young adults should have the educational
tools necessary to make informed financial decisions.
‘‘(2) Despite the critical importance of financial
literacy to young people, the average student who
graduates from high school lacks basic skills in the
management of personal financial affairs. A nation-
wide survey conducted in 1997 by the Jump$tart
Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy examined
the financial knowledge of 1,509 12th graders. On
average, survey respondents answered only 57 per-
cent of the questions correctly, and only 5 percent
of the respondents received a ‘C’ grade or better.
‘‘(3) An evaluation by the National Endowment
for Financial Education High School Financial
Planning Program undertaken jointly with the
United States Department of Agriculture Coopera-
tive State Research, Education, and Extension Serv-
ice demonstrates that as little as 10 hours of class-
room instruction can impart substantial knowledge
and affect significant change in how teens handle
their money.
‘‘(4) State educational leaders have recognized
the importance of providing a basic financial edu-
cation to students in grades kindergarten through
12 by integrating financial education into State edu-
cational standards, but by 1999 only 14 States re-
quired schools to implement personal finance stand-
ards into the academic curriculum.
‘‘(5) Teacher training and professional develop-
ment are critical to achieving youth financial lit-
eracy. Teachers confirm the need for professional de-
velopment in personal finance education. In a survey
by the National Institute for Consumer Education,
77 percent of a State’s economics teachers revealed
that they had never had a college course in personal
finance.
‘‘(6) Personal financial education helps prepare
students for the workforce and for financial inde-
pendence by developing their sense of individual re-
sponsibility, improving their life skills, and providing
them with a thorough understanding of consumer
economics that will benefit them for their entire
lives.
‘‘(7) Financial education integrates instruction
in valuable life skills with instruction in economics,
including income and taxes, money management, in-
vestment and spending, and the importance of per-
sonal savings.
‘‘(8) The consumers and investors of tomorrow
are in our schools today. The teaching of personal
finance should be encouraged at all levels of our Na-
tion’s 
educational 
system, 
from 
kindergarten
through grade 12.
‘‘SEC. 10994. STATE GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au-
thorized to provide grants to State educational agencies
to develop and integrate youth financial education pro-
grams for students in elementary and secondary schools.
‘‘(b) STATE PLAN.—
‘‘(1) APPROVED STATE PLAN REQUIRED.—To
be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a
State shall submit an application which includes a
State plan, described in paragraph (2), approved by
the Secretary.
‘‘(2) STATE PLAN CONTENTS.—The State plan
referred to in paragraph (1) shall include—
‘‘(A) a description of how the State will
use grant funds;
‘‘(B) a description of how the programs
supported by a grant will be coordinated with
other relevant Federal, State, regional, and
local programs; and
‘‘(C) a description of how the State will
evaluate program performance.
‘‘(c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FACTORS.—Except as other-
wise provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall
allocate the amounts made available to carry out
this section pursuant to subsection (a) to each State
according to the relative populations in all the States
of students in grades kindergarten through 12, as
determined by the Secretary based on the most re-
cent satisfactory data.
‘‘(2) MINIMUM
ALLOCATION.—Subject to the
availability of appropriations and notwithstanding
paragraph (1), a State that has submitted an ap-
proved plan under subsection (b) shall be allocated
an amount not less than $500,000 for a fiscal year.
‘‘(3) REALLOCATION.—In any fiscal year an al-
location under this subsection—
‘‘(A) for a State that has not submitted a
plan under subsection (b); or
‘‘(B) for a State whose plan submitted
under subsection (b) has been disapproved by
the Secretary;
shall be reallocated to States with approved plans
under this section in accordance with paragraph (1).
‘‘(d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) Required uses.—A grant made to a State
under this part shall be used—
‘‘(A) to provide funds to local educational
agencies and public schools to carry out finan-
cial education programs for students in grades
kindergarten through 12 based on the concept
of achieving financial literacy through the
teaching of personal financial management
skills and the basic principles involved with
earning, spending, saving, and investing;
‘‘(B) to carry out professional development
programs to prepare teachers and administra-
tors for financial education; and
‘‘(C) to monitor and evaluate programs
supported under subparagraphs (A) and (B).
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—
A State receiving a grant under subsection (a) may
use not more than 4 percent of the total amount of
the grant in each fiscal year for the administrative
costs of carrying out this section.
‘‘(e) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—Each State edu-
cational agency receiving a grant under this section shall
transmit a report to the Secretary with respect to each
fiscal year for which a grant is received. The report shall
describe the programs supported by the grant and the re-
sults of the State’s monitoring and evaluation of such pro-
grams.
‘‘SEC. 10995. CLEARINGHOUSE.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Subject to the availability of ap-
propriations, the Secretary shall make a grant to or exe-
cute a contract with an organization or institution with
substantial experience in the field of financial education,
such as the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial
Literacy, to establish, operate, and maintain a national
clearinghouse (in this part referred to as the Clearing-
house) for instructional materials and information regard-
ing model financial education programs and best practices.
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An organization or institution
desiring to establish, operate, and maintain the Clearing-
house shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and accompanied by such informa-
tion, as the Secretary may reasonably require.
‘‘(c) BASIS AND TERM.—The Secretary shall make
the grant or contract authorized under subsection (a) on
a competitive, merit basis for a term of 5 years.
‘‘(c) REPORT.—For each fiscal year for which there
are appropriations under section 10999(a), the Secretary
shall transmit a report to the Congress describing the sta-
tus of the implementation of this part. The report shall
include the results of the evaluation required under sub-
section (b) and a description of the programs supported
under section 10994.
‘‘SEC. 10997. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this part—
‘‘(1) the term ‘financial education’ means edu-
cational activities and experiences, planned and su-
pervised by qualified teachers, that enable students
to understand basic economic and consumer prin-
cipals, acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to
manage personal and household finances, and de-
velop a range of competencies that will enable them
to become responsible consumers in today’s complex
economy;
‘‘(2) the terms ‘local educational agency’, ‘State
educational agency’, and ‘outlying area’ have the
meanings given the terms in section 14101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;
‘‘(3) the term ‘qualified teacher’ means a teach-
er who holds a valid teaching certification or is con-
sidered to be qualified by the State educational
agency in the State in which the teacher works;
‘‘(4) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary
of Education; and
‘‘(5) the term ‘State’ means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, and each outlying area.
‘‘SEC. 10998. PROHIBITION.
‘‘Nothing in this part shall be construed to authorize
an officer or employee of the Federal Government to man-
date, direct, or control a State, local educational agency,
or school’s specific instructional content, curriculum, or
program of instruction, as a condition of eligibility to re-
ceive funds under this part.
‘‘SEC. 10999. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—For the purposes of carrying
out this part, there are authorized to be appropriated
$100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through
2004.
‘‘(b) LIMITATION
ON
FUNDS
FOR
CLEARING-
HOUSE.—The Secretary may use not less than 2 percent
and not more than 5 percent of amounts appropriated
under subsection (a) for each fiscal year to carry out sec-
tion 10995.
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON FUNDS FOR SECRETARY EVAL-
UATION.—The Secretary may use not more than $200,000
from the amounts appropriated under subsection (a) for
each fiscal year to carry out subsections (a) and (b) of
section 10996.
‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Ex-
cept as necessary to carry out subsections (a) and (b) of
section 10996 using amounts described in subsection (c)
of this section, the Secretary shall not use any portion of
the amounts appropriated under subsection (a) for the
costs of administering this part.’’.
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