Financial Education Public-Private Partnership.  In 2015, the Legislature established the Financial Education Public-Private Partnership (FEPPP).  FEPPP is comprised of members of the Legislature, representatives from the private for-profit and nonprofit financial services sector, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Treasurer, and teachers.
 
FEPPP has a variety of responsibilities, including, among others:

• seeking out and determining the best methods of equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need to make critical decisions regarding their personal finances;
• developing and communicating financial education standards to school districts;
• reviewing financial education curriculum; and 
• monitoring, creating, and providing guidance for professional development (PD) for educators.

 
Financial Literacy Education Professional Development Grant Program.  In 2022, the Legislature directed FEPPP to establish a grant program for integrating financial literacy education into PD for certificated staff, subject to appropriation.

For a school district to qualify for a grant, the grant proposal must provide that the grantee integrate financial literacy education into at least seven hours of its current in-person PD schedule over the course of the entire school year for which the district receives the grant.  Grants must be allocated at $7.50 per enrolled student and must be made available for the 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 school years.  A school district that receives a grant for one school year is prohibited from receiving a grant in subsequent grant cycles. 

Additional activities permitted for the use of the grants include, but are not limited to: 

• coordinating teachers from across a school district to develop new instructional strategies and to share successful strategies;
• sharing successful practices across a group of school districts; and
• facilitating coordination between educational service districts and school districts to provide training.

A school district may apply for and receive financial literacy education professional development grants for each of the three school years in which the grants are available.  The total amount of funds that a school district receives over the three years may not exceed $7.50 per enrolled student in the school district.  

School districts that currently integrate financial literacy education into professional development may qualify for the Financial Literacy Professional Development Grant Program if the professional development has been approved by FEPPP.

PRO: This bill specifies that districts can apply to the same pot of money in multiple years.  Some districts want to be able to address different grade levels in a staggered manner.  The bill passed through the House unanimously, as well as through the Senate education committee last session.