Posted by: Kathy
on Mar 17, 2010
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was on Capitol Hill all day today, in hearings to Reauthorize ESEA (formerly known as No Child Left Behind); in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (watch the video on this important education subject) and in the House Education and Labor Committee.
The blueprint for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is a slender, for Washington, 45 pages. Here's Duncan's written testimony.
Kay Hagan (whose staff I met in October about S.1339, on Financial Literacy) asks a very direct question about Financial Literacy in the DoE Blueprint. Her question, at 120:00 on the video above, ties college-readiness and career-readiness to financial literacy of students. His reply, at 121:54 on the video, demonstrates his earnest commitment, personally and in dollars, to financial literacy. He refers to a bucket called a Well-Rounded Education, $265 million to improve instruction in many subject areas, explicitly including Financial Literacy. See page 25 of the Blueprint.
Posted by: Kathy
on Mar 15, 2010
Senator Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, released his proposal to overhaul the nation's financial regulations.
Read Dodd Releases Huge Financial Reform Package, by Jann Swanson for more details on its regulatory provisions.
Three provisions that are particularly dear to me are:
1) Establishment of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and
2) Establishment of an Office of Financial Literacy to educate the public about financial matters
3) Offering a complaint hot line for reporting problems with financial products.
Posted by: Kathy Griffin
on Oct 23, 2009
The FTC seeks comments through November 30, 2009, on proposed amendments to the "Free Credit Report Rule", pertaining to those aggressive, deceptive, and irritating advertising and other practices by the credit bureaus. The proposed amendments require prominent disclosures on web, TV, Radio, and print, and prohibit several now-common practices; ie, hyperlinking the consumer to places where he will never find the Free Credit Report to which he is entitled; or requiring the consumer to first establish an account. The amendments go into effect in February 2010.
Although required by law to provide a free credit report each year to consumers, the Bureaus are taking unfair advantage of consumers who request their report by trying to upsell them more services, or worse, by tricking consumers into paying for a report they're entitled to get for free. The consumers they aim to take advantage of are the very ones trying to do their financially responsible duty, by staying on top of their credit history.
Reading the amendments is a dismaying history of escalating deceptive practices by the Bureaus. The FTC absolutely should stop these predatory practices. Legislation and regulatory oversight is essential, as is continuing financial education for consumers.
Knowing that they should periodically get and review their credit report is important, but knowing how is really useful.
Graduates of MoneyU have learned through simulations, for example,:
- How to get a free copy of their report every four months, and avoid unnecessary upsells
- How to read the report and identify errors, and
- How to get errors corrected.
MoneyU enrollees also learn the components of a credit score, and what clues in their credit report might indicate identity theft.
