be presented with clear and consistent information about their financial products. the federal reserve is the primary government agency charged with writing rules governing consumer financial products. historically, we have focused on disclosure as the best way to provide consumers with information to choose between products or to make decisions about using financial products. in recent years, we have used extensive consumer testing to gauge consumers ’ understanding of financial disclosures and to highlight practices that simply cannot be understood by consumers even with the best disclosures. if we identify practices that cannot be adequately explained through disclosure, we now prohibit those practices. recently, the federal reserve has written strong new consumer protection rules for mortgages, credit cards, and overdraft charges. and we have improved our response time for drafting rules to address emerging trends that may pose new risks for consumers. in closing, i would like to thank the educators here today for your dedication to washingtonarea students. your role is vital to preparing them with the skills they will need to grow into financially successful adults. i am pleased to be a part of this conversation among the private and public sectors, as well as the education community, about how best to empower students with the confidence and savvy to navigate their financial worlds.

elizabeth a duke : the importance of financial education speech by ms elizabeth a duke, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the jump $ tart coalition investing in our future : financial education and washington event, washington dc, 8 april 2010. * * * good morning. i am pleased to be here with the greater washington chapter of the jump $ tart coalition for personal finance to kick off financial literacy month 2010. and i would like to take this opportunity to applaud each of you here today for your commitment to revitalizing the washington chapter. the coalition is a national leader among organizations that work to improve financial education for students from kindergarten through college. its programs provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions that will have a positive impact on their economic well - being. with a new leadership team and renewed enthusiasm, the greater washington, d. c., chapter of the coalition has joined forces with more than 100 individuals, businesses, and not - for - profit educational and government organizations – including the federal reserve board – to increase knowledge about personal finance among students in our region. the federal reserve system is made up of the board of governors here in washington and 12 regional federal reserve banks with branches across the country. throughout the federal reserve system, we work with the jump $ tart coalition – locally with the washington, d. c., chapter and through alliances between the reserve banks and other state chapters of the coalition – to achieve our shared goals. the partnership between the federal reserve and the jump $ tart coalition is a natural one. jump $ tart ’ s mission to develop a more financially literate population supports the federal reserve ’ s goal of a stable and growing economy. in collaboration with partners like you, jump $ tart enables students to make economically sound financial decisions in their personal and business lives. as students individually form households or start businesses, their collective decisions will shape the economy of our future. i am especially pleased to be able to represent the federal reserve in this effort as my personal commitment to financial literacy has spanned more than 30 years. i have been involved with a number of initiatives including some that took me into the classroom to teach students directly and others that provided teachers with tools and training to better prepare them to teach economics and personal finance. the need in this country for financial education is so great that we must continue to tackle it at all levels and with all available resources. we need to imbed financial concepts in