SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1502 FILED ON: 1/12/2009
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 299
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
PRESENTED BY:
Susan C.
Tucker
_______________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:
An Act concerning financial literacy in schools.
_______________
PETITION OF:
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Name:
|
District/Address:
|
|
Susan C.
Tucker
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Second Essex and Middlesex
|
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Brian S. Dempsey
|
3rd Essex
|
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Massachusette Credit Union League
|
|
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Bruce E. Tarr
|
First Essex and Middlesex
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Denise Provost
|
27th Middlesex
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Karen E. Spilka
|
Second Middlesex and Norfolk
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William
Lantigua
|
16th Essex
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Linda Dean Campbell
|
15th Essex
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand and Nine
_______________
An Act concerning financial literacy in schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition,
is hereby amended by inserting after section 1N the following section
:-
Secti
on 1M. In order to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to become self-supporting and to enable students to make critical decisions regarding personal finances, the Department of Education shall
provide guidance and
assist
ance
in the implem
entation of programs on teaching personal
financial literacy
. The components of personal
financial literacy
covered in the program shall include, but not be limited to:
u
nderstanding loans, borrowing money, interest, credit card debt, and online commerce;
understanding the financial impact and consequences of gambling;
rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home;
saving, investing and planning for retirement;
and banking and financial services.
The Department shall incorporate personal
fina
ncial literacy concepts and skills
within the existing mathematics framework. The Department shall encourage school districts when selecting textbooks for mathematics, economics or similar courses, to select those text books which contain substantive provi
sions on personal finance.
The Department shall establish a
financial literacy
advisory
group
to
:
(1) review the revision draft of the Mathematics Framework and submit recommendations for the inclusion of personal financial literacy
concepts and standards
; (2) assist the Department with a review of existing financial literacy curriculum
materials
and programs; (1) develop a plan for the dissemination of these recourses; and (4) design a strategy for identifying and sharing best practices and successful pro
grams that effectively teach personal literacy concepts and skills.
The members of the
financial literacy
advisory
group
shall include
,
but
not
limited to
,
three educators, two leaders in the field of financial planning, one leader in the field of banking
, and one leader f
or the local college who teaches
financial literacy or personal finance. One committee member will serve as the chair, appointed by the commissioner of the Department of Ed
ucation. The advisory group
, at its discretion, may select additional members with relevant experiences including, but not limited to, representatives from insurance and investment firms, real estate firms, and bankruptcy attorneys.
