The Community Financial Education Foundation is a dedicated advocate for integrating financial education into public schools across America and providing budgeting tools and payday loan help when needed. Educating the youth of our country is the natural and most obvious solution to prepare the next generation for our society's sophisticated financial products. By the time a student graduates from high school, they will have spent 12,000 hours in the classroom. Perhaps, the current financial woes for many Americans could have been avoided if more hours had been spent becoming familiarized with budgeting tools and learning money management skills. Students learn to dissect frogs in Biology, but may never learn how to read a financial statement.

To date, 40 states have standards or guidelines for financial education, but only 28 require the standards to be implemented and taught. Financial education, along with budgeting tools and payday loan help, should be integrated early and reinforced throughout an individual's academic career.

The CFEF challenges policy makers to make financial education a priority. We advocate for financial education at all levels of government. Policy makers have the power to hold our schools and educators accountable for implementing this important initiative.