Governor Rendell Proclaims April as 'Financial Education Month'

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell has proclaimed April to be "Financial Education Month" and urged Pennsylvanians to learn about personal financial management to help them enjoy a more secure future.

"Although Pennsylvania's unemployment rate remains below the national average and the economy continues to show signs of recovery, there are still Pennsylvania families that are struggling as a result of economic forces beyond their control," Governor Rendell said. "At a time when every penny counts, the ability to make informed financial decisions is more valuable than ever."

The Pennsylvania Office of Financial Education offers expertise to help schools, employers and community groups to better educate consumers. The office helps teachers incorporate personal finance principles into their courses; shows employers how to provide personal finance tips, tools and training to their employees in ways that complement their business objectives and boost profitability; and provides assistance to community-based organizations to improve their delivery of high-quality financial education and counseling.

During 2008-09, the office helped nearly 650 teachers incorporate age-appropriate financial concepts into reading, writing, mathematics, consumer sciences and other courses. The assistance is provided for free through assorted in-service training and the Governor's Institute for Financial Education, a weeklong professional development program. This year, up to 100 teachers will attend this full scholarship program at Elizabethtown College from July 11-16.

The Office of Financial Education will also host the fourth annual Common Wealth Symposium on May 11-12 to help community organizations and employers launch or enhance financial education programs. In 2008-09, the office helped more than 450 community-based professionals explore how to integrate financial education into their organizations' services or improve the financial education they are already offering their clients. In addition, the office is working with 24 Pennsylvania companies and state agencies in providing workplace financial education to nearly 11,000 employees.

Pennsylvania's financial education Web site, www.moneysbestfriend.com, provides information on a wide array of personal finance topics, ranging from creating a budget to what the new federal credit card rules mean for consumers to coping with the financial repercussions of a death, divorce, illness, or job loss. Web visitors can also enter their ZIP code to find local financial education resources offered by non-profit organizations, government agencies, and other reputable sources.

In 2009, the Institute for Financial Literacy presented the Office of Financial Education and the Penn State Cooperative Extension with an Excellence in Financial Literacy Education award for "Right on the Money," a program for teaching money management skills to families with young children.

For more information, visit www.moneysbestfriend.com.

Editor's Note: Text of Governor's proclamation follows.

FINANCIAL EDUCATION MONTH - April 2010

WHEREAS, Financial education is essential to helping Pennsylvanians of all ages make good financial decisions, meet personal financial goals and achieve financial security; and

WHEREAS, a sound understanding and familiarity with financial products and institutions on the part of consumers is critical to increased economic activity, growth and security; and

WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Office of Financial Education will offer programs again this year to help schools, community-based organizations and employers provide high-quality, age-appropriate financial education; and

WHEREAS, the number of school districts in Pennsylvania requiring financial education in their curricula as a high school graduation requirement has doubled since 2007; and

WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania  Office of Financial Education and the Penn State Cooperative Extension received a national award from the Institute for Financial Literacy for creating "Right on the Money," an innovative curriculum offered by libraries, county extension offices and community-based organizations to teach money management skills to families with young children; and

WHEREAS, many Pennsylvania financial institutions will participate in "Teach Children to Save Day" on April 27 and "National Credit Union Youth Week," which will be celebrated from April 18-24, during which financial professionals will visit schools and teach young people basic principles of saving and spending; and

WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency provides homebuyer education and administers the Homeowners' Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program to help prevent foreclosure; and, through its Office of the Consumer Services, the Department of Banking assists thousands of Pennsylvanians each year to make informed decisions on financial matters; and

WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Jump$tart Coalition, a public-private partnership, is working to improve financial education in kindergarten through twelfth grade.

THEREFORE, in special recognition of the importance of affordable, accessible, high-quality financial education, I, Edward G. Rendell, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, do hereby proclaim April 2010 FINANCIAL EDUCATION MONTH in Pennsylvania and encourage all citizens, parents, teachers, community leaders, and others to seek ways to improve their own personal finance habits.

GIVEN under my hand and the Seal of the Governor, at the City of Harrisburg, this first day of April in the year of our Lord two thousand and ten, and of the Commonwealth the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

EDWARD G. RENDELL, Governor

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor