January/February 2014
Wisconsin Community Banker
33
CHANGING SCENE
Financial Institution
Products & Services
Offered by Your Association
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Financial Institution Bond
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Directors and Officers Liability
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Property, Casualty, and Workers’ Compensation
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Forced Placed Property Mortgage Protection
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$9.00 Life of loan flood determinations
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Residential and Commercial Evaluation Program
Community Bankers Financial Services offers a wide variety of products and services
for the benefit of you, our members. For additional information on any of our
financial institution programs call Denise Davis at CBFS at 608.345.6998.
Kevin Christians
Denise Davis
DFI, DPI Create K-12 Financial Literacy Grant Program
MADISON—The Wisconsin Depart-
ment of Financial Institutions (DFI)
and the Wisconsin Department of
Public Instruction (DPI) have estab-
lished a $250,000 statewide grant
program to encourage K-12 school
districts to incorporate personal
finance education into their curricula.
Funding for the program will be
provided through DFI’s Office of
Financial Literacy, which works with
the Governor’s Council on Financial
Literacy to measurably improve the
financial knowledge of Wisconsin’s
citizens.
“The need for personal finance
skills for Wisconsin’s young people has
never been greater,” Governor Scott
Walker said. “Financial literacy is an
important lifelong skill that will enable
our students to be smart consumers
when they reach adulthood.”
Application deadline is Mar. 21.
DPI is accepting nominations online
at
Grant money will
be available to grantees on June 1.
The intent of the program is to
support the efforts of individual teach-
ers and school districts to begin new
and sustainable programs and events.
Teachers in K-12 school districts are
eligible to apply for awards of up to
$10,000 and may submit proposals for
each school level–elementary, middle
school, and high school.
DFI Secretary Peter Bildsten
pointed out that a survey commis-
sioned by the agency last year showed
that 44 percent of Wisconsin school
districts currently require a course in
Personal Financial Literacy in order to
graduate from high school.
“Clearly many Wisconsin school
districts already have effective per-
sonal finance courses in place,”
Bildsten said. “Through this program,
we want to help districts elevate their
commitment to financial literacy ini-
tiatives so even more students benefit
from this training.”
The $250,000 financial commit-
ment from DFI comes from settle-
ment funds it has received over the
last couple of years. “Some settlement
proceeds are designated specifically
for financial literacy initiatives,”
Bildsten said. “Investing those funds
in programs that benefit Wisconsin
students is a wise use of those settle-
ment dollars.”
A subcommittee of the Gover-
nor’s Council on Financial Literacy
will review recommendations from
DPI and select the award recipients.
Proposals will be evaluated on the fol-
lowing criteria:
• The nature of the expected out-
come from the project and the degree
to which it is measurable
• The number of students
impacted
• Sustainability and the degree to
which the proposal includes parents,
volunteers, and other members of the
community
• Matching financial support from
the school or other partners in the
community
• The degree to which the project
is realistic, innovative, experiential,
educational, and engaging
• The degree to which it enhances
student experiences and curriculum
delivery
• The level of innovation and cre-
ativity used to enrich existing services
and programs
• Cost effectiveness.
All proposals must indicate how
they support approved academic
curriculum and integrate Wisconsin’s
Model Academic Standards on Per-
sonal Financial Literacy.
For more information, contact
David Mancl, Director of the Office
of Financial Literacy, at david.mancl@
wisconsin.gov or 608.261.9540.
>>>
DPI is accepting applications online through March 21.
