Securities Regulators to Talk Financial Literacy With Students

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2009-245

Washington, D.C., Nov. 13, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a new financial literacy outreach program to promote financial literacy to elementary school students.

Project CHANGE: "Creating Habits and Awareness for the Next Generation's Economy" is a joint partnership between the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.

On November 20, top officials from the SEC, FINRA and Jump$tart will visit 18 elementary schools throughout the country to teach a class on financial literacy. They will share advice on saving, spending and sharing money from a curriculum based on the national standards for financial literacy in grades four through six.

"While we are experiencing a financial crisis that's one of the worst in decades, the financial literacy of high school students has fallen to its lowest level ever, with 73.9 percent of students failing Jump$tart's 2008 national survey," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. "Teaching children about money is an investment in the future, because an investment in financial literacy can pay a lifetime of dividends."

In addition to on-site financial literacy presentations, FINRA will donate a slingpack containing financial literacy tools to each child participating in the program. FINRA will also provide every child in the selected schools with a moonjar, a unique tool to encourage children to learn about "saving," "spending" and "sharing." In addition, "money-related" games and books will be donated to participating schools.

The following schools will be participating in the inaugural Project CHANGE visits from securities regulators:

• Atlanta - Rivers Elementary School
• Boca Raton, Fla. - Alexander D. Henderson University
• Boston - Joyce Kilmer Elementary School (West Roxbury, Mass.)
• Chicago - Keller Elementary Gifted Magnet School
• Denver - Lincoln Elementary School
• Fort Worth - S.S. Dillow Elementary School
• Kansas City - Stony Point North Elementary School
• Los Angeles - Open Magnet Charter School
• Miami - Dunbar Elementary School
• New Orleans - International School Of Louisiana
• New York - New Explorations, Science, Tech & Math School
• Philadelphia - William M. Meredith School
• Salt Lake City - Ridgecrest Elementary School
• San Francisco - Robert Stevenson Elementary School
• Seattle - Sacajawea Elementary School
• Washington D.C.
  • Thurgood Marshall Elementary School (District of Columbia)
  • Ashlawn Elementary School (Arlington, Va.)
  • Cannon Road Elementary School (Silver Spring, Md.)

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To learn more about this new initiative, and to find games and fun information to help elementary school students learn more about financial literacy, visit the Project CHANGE Web site at http://projectchange.sec.gov.

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