OSPI NEWS RELEASE: Dorn Celebrates Adoption of Financial Education Standards

Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 09/27/2016 03:00 PM PDT

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Randy I. Dorn

 

Dorn Celebrates Adoption of Financial Education Standards

YAKIMA—SEPTEMBER 27, 2016—Pop quiz: Assume a couple wants to buy a $300,000 house. They can put $60,000 down. The $240,000 mortgage, at a 3.5-percent interest rate, would cost how much in 30 years, assuming a fixed-rate loan?*

Knowing the answer – and more important, the formulas to get the answer – is at the heart of financial standards. State Superintendent Randy Dorn will preside today over a ceremonial adoption of the standards – the first of their kind in Washington. The ceremony was sponsored by the Financial Education Public-Private Partnership, which was tasked by the state Legislature to write the standards.

Dorn has championed financial education since he took office in 2009. “Our financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 might not have hit the country as hard if more of us really understood what banks were doing with home loans,” he said. “Students need to understand financial terms. They need to know what interest is, how to calculate taxes, when to begin investing. Giving them those tools may help us avert the next financial crisis.”

The standards – based on national standards from the Jump$tart Coalition and the Council for Economic Education – are divided into six groups of related topics:

  1. Spending and Saving. Students will apply strategies to monitor income and expenses, plan for spending, and save for future goals.
  2. Credit and Debt. Students will develop strategies to control and manage credit and debt.
  3. Employment and Income. Students will use a career plan to develop personal income potential.
  4. Students will implement a diversified investment strategy that is compatible with personal financial goals.
  5. Risk Management and Insurance. Students will apply appropriate and cost-effective risk management strategies.
  6. Financial Decision-Making. Students will apply reliable information and systematic decision-making to personal financial decisions.

Implementation of the standards will begin immediately. Typically, testing on new standards occurs five years after adoption. The full implementation plan for the standards will be available soon.

About the Financial Education Public-Private Partnership

In 2004, the state Legislature established the Financial Literacy Public-Private Partnership. Three years later, the fourth state learning goal was changed to include “finance.” TFLPPP was recommissioned in 2009 as the Financial Education Public-Private Partnership (FEPPP).

The 2015 state Legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill 5202, which required the FEPPP, with OSPI, “to integrate financial education skills and content knowledge into the state learning standards.”

For more information

 

* Answer: The monthly payment would be $1,078 in principal and interest. The total payoff would be $388,080: $240,000 in principal and $148,080 in interest.

 

Contact

Nathan Olson
OSPI Communications Manager
360-725-6015

About OSPI

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the primary agency charged with overseeing K–12 education in Washington state. Led by State Superintendent Randy Dorn, OSPI works with the state's 295 school districts and nine educational service districts to administer basic education programs and implement education reform on behalf of more than one million public school students.

OSPI provides equal access to all programs and services without discrimination based on sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability.

Questions and complaints of alleged discrimination should be directed to the Equity and Civil Rights Director at 360-725-6162 or P.O. Box 47200, Olympia, WA 98504-7200.