Nation’s Youth Targeted Through Major National Economic And Financial Literacy Initiative
Mississippi First State To Implement
New York, November 8, 2006 — The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) in partnership with State Farm® has undertaken a major new national initiative to improve the economic and financial literacy of the nation’s youth. Mississippi will be the first state to implement the program for all K-12 public schools.
The Mississippi initiative was unveiled today at the U.S. Senator Thad Cochran Forum on American Enterprise, hosted by the Mississippi Council on Economic Education (MCEE) in Jackson, MS. Mississippi leaders Senator Cochran, Governor Haley Barbour and State Superintendent of Education Dr. Hank Bounds participated in the event.
Economic and financial literacy is a front-page issue. “Our nation’s young people stand to inherit a complex and rapidly changing economy and yet too many are unprepared for the challenges ahead,” said Robert Duvall, President and CEO of the NCEE. “How can we talk meaningfully about an ‘ownership society’ and the good old-fashioned American virtues of self-reliance and individual responsibility if people don’t have a basic framework for making sound economic and financial decisions in their lives?”
The multi-year effort will combine professional development for teachers (centered around NCEE’s Virtual Economics® CD-ROM program) and advocacy efforts for greater emphasis on economic education and financial literacy in K-12 education nationwide. Over the course of the three-year initiative, the NCEE will offer professional development for more than 14,000 K-12 teachers in seven states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi and Texas. These teachers will reach more than 1.2 million students annually. In Mississippi alone, more than 6,000 teachers will receive training and reach more than 400,000 students annually.
Mississippi was selected by NCEE and State Farm as the pilot for a statewide rollout for several reasons. Last year, the Virtual Economics program was brought to the attention of Dr. Hank Bounds during MCEE-conducted professional development training programs. Dr. Bounds quickly recognized the potential of this resource and pledged to work with MCEE to help bring it to more Mississippi schools.
The MCEE and the teachers it trained used Virtual Economics to show students how understanding economics can help empower them to improve their own lives – a lesson that took on all too real world consequences in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“I used the lessons in Virtual Economics to help my students understand such issues as using FEMA debit cards wisely, making decisions about temporary housing, helping rebuild the family finances, and understanding the connection between poverty and the specific troubles the hurricane brought to their world,” said Mississippi teacher Pam Carrubba.
“Hard-hit by Katrina, yet striving for education reform, Mississippi will be a showcase for reaching our nation’s young people,” said NCEE’s Duvall. ”Through their teachers, we are giving them the skills they need for success in the real world.”
Pamela P. Smith, President of MCEE said, “Launching this program throughout Mississippi is a terrific opportunity for those of us committed to improving financial literacy through economic education. Mississippi teachers who have been able to use the Virtual Economics CD are excelling and this program will enable us to level the playing field so that this state-of-the-art resource is available statewide.”
For more than 25 years, State Farm has supported NCEE’s work to bring economic education into the nation’s classrooms. “Our support helps NCEE provide quality materials and professional development for K-12 teachers,” said Barbara Cowden, Executive Vice President of State Farm and member of the NCEE Board of Directors. “We are pleased to provide educators the tools and resources needed to help them meet the economic education standards set forth in the ‘No Child Left Behind’ legislation.”
About NCEE
The NCEE is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving economic and financial literacy. Both directly and through its unique nationwide network of State Councils and more than 200 university-based Centers for Economic Education, NCEE’s programs reach over 150,000 K-12 teachers and more than 15 million students in more than 70,000 schools each year.
About State Farm
State Farm® insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm’s 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees serve over 74 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.8 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No.22 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca™.