21st Century Education

Guests:   On this edition of the State Dollar, State Auditor Glen Gainer and his guest, State Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven L. Paine, will discuss financial literacy in the West Virginia classroom.

Summary:   In 1999, the West Virginia Securities Commission, which is a division of the state auditor's office, launched a comprehensive financial literacy program in partnership with county schools systems, state and federal agencies.

The Securities Commission was interested in bringing an Investor Education Program to citizens to help teachers and students stem the tide of investor fraud while offering educational tools for the West Virginia classroom.

Finance University, begun in 2002, is dedicated to increasing the financial knowledge of our educators by bringing in many of those original financial experts for a free week-long institute offering educators university credit.

The second program called Money Matters has become the school classroom aspect of our investor education program. It brings an investor education expert to classrooms of all sizes and grade levels for discussions on personal finance as well as an exciting and interactive stock market game.