Conference focuses on financial literacy

A literacy conference is underway today (Thursday) and tomorrow in the capital city, but this meeting for teachers isn’t about reading, it’s about financial smarts. The JumpStart Coalition was organized to help young people learn common sense about money, something debt figures prove many are lacking when they reach adulthood. Attorney General Tom Miller and State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald will keynote the conference, at which teachers learn how to enrich their classes with useful information about credit, saving, investing and consumer protection. They’ll learn how they can introduce their students to the complex world of buying a house or a car and managing their money. This is the third annual personal-finance conference for secondary-school teachers. Backers are volunteers from a host of agencies: private business, ISU extension, Fannie Mae, the state bankers association and many more.