Hagan touts financial literacy: "It's not rocket science"

While President Obama was on Wall Street trying to pump up his efforts to get an overhaul of the nation's regulatory system, North Carolina's junior senator was calling for changes of her own - on Main Street.

Sen. Kay Hagan was touting legislation she authored this summer to get students financially literate so they wouldn't find themselves at the mercy of their own ignorance or unscrupulous financial services people. She said Tuesday:

"We are facing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, in large part because of irresponsible financial practices that led to the subprime mortgage market’s collapse. To help protect our families from future crises, we need to empower people to make intelligent financial decisions. The key is financial literacy education before students enter the workplace or college. Financial literacy is not rocket science; we just don’t teach it."

Hagan has introduced the Financial Literacy for Students Act of 2009, her first bill. She says it "will incentivize states to incorporate personal financial literacy into their curriculums, beginning in the sixth grade and continuing until high school graduation." It will also help young people better understand the major financial decisions they are regularly asked to make, such as applying for credit cards, securing student loans, taking out a mortgage or managing a budget, she said.
Hagan is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Find her entire statement at

http://thehill.com/special-reports-archive/559-education-september-2009/58649-bill-aims-to-make-financial-literacy-a-curriculum-goal