Looking to steer youths from “marketplace pitfalls” and lives of  entrenched poverty, a Westchester legislator has enlisted bankers in a public-private partnership to educate youths in finances, from A as in “account” to Z as in “zero-interest” adjustable rates on student credit cards.
County Legislator Clinton I. Young Jr., a Democrat running for mayor in Mount Vernon, recently announced the formation of the Westchester Alliance for Financial Literacy. He was joined at a meeting of the county board”™s legislation committee by several executives from Bank of America, Commerce Bank and JPMorgan Chase and Co. Young said the banking industry”™s participation in the countywide educational effort was “critical” to its success.
Young in announcing the alliance defined personal financial literacy as “the ability to read, analyze and manage day-to-day financial decisions as well as plans for the future. What”™s required is the ability to discern financial choices, understand things like credit and investments as well as how the economy functions.” The legislator cited studies showing that even 10 hours of instruction “can have a major and lasting beneficial effect on an individual”™s financial management skills.”
“I”™m looking at a collaborative effort between the Board of Legislators, the banks as well as the school system,” Young said in an interview last week. Community Capital Resources, a nonprofit organization in Hawthorne that provides financial literacy programs, also has joined the alliance. Young also invited other Westchester businesses and nonprofit groups to commit to the alliance.
Young said he hopes to introduce a uniform financial curriculum in Westchester schools aimed at “making students well aware of how important it is to make sound financial decisions” and arming them with knowledge to keep them from “falling into the pitfalls of predatory lending and other things that have a negative impact.”
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He said the financial instruction could begin at the third-grade level and advance in real-world subject matter as students move on to middle school and high school.
Young said he knows high school students who already have received credit card offers. Youths at that age should understand “how good credit can have an impact on one”™s lifestyle in terms of moving up and pursuing the American dream and homeownership.” Students should also know that good credit is needed to obtain a loan to start a business, he said.
As banking and finance become “more of a paperless environment” with debit cards and online service, “Financial management is becoming more and more important,” Young said.
“Every year, millions of students ”“ tens of thousands from Westchester County ”“ go away to college, on their own, with little or no experience in managing their finances or understanding credit,” he said. “Four years down the road, many will be left with significant amounts of debt from credit cards and student loans. This is our chance to give young people the tools necessary to control their own financial destinies.”
Bankers at the alliance startup meeting noted their companies”™ existing programs to supply young people and potential consumers and investors with those tools of knowledge.
Commerce Bank, for one, offers a free in-school program, “Wow! Zone,” in conjunction with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, said Mark Sicinski, Commerce Bank regional vice president in Purchase. The program, which brings bank personnel into math classes with lesson plans on money and banking, reaches students from the elementary grades through high school as well as adults in lower-income areas.
In the four years since Commerce Bank began operations in Westchester, bankers have taught more than 250 classes and more than 5,000 students in the county, Sicinski said.
Regarding the banking industry”™s various educational efforts, “These programs have been somewhat effective,” Young said. “But I”™m looking at a broader basis. Bringing us all together, we”™ll have a universal curriculum. I think it will have more of a positive impact on getting the word out.”
Young said the response from the banking industry to his initiative has been “enthusiastic.”
“I think they certainly have a legitimate concern for the communities that they do business in,” he said.
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