State treasurers are a leading voice for financial education across the nation, tasked with ensuring their citizens are equipped and empowered to pursue financial well-being. At the same time, state governments and individual school districts nationwide have heeded the public call to provide their young people with at least one semester of personal finance instruction before they graduate from high school. In many states the work is underway to implement or evaluate and improve upon those financial education requirements. This presents state treasurers with a unique opportunity to inform, support and champion effective financial education in their states’ K–12 systems.
On June 16, the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) moderated a panel discussion on the role of state treasurers in K–12 financial education policy at the 2026 National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) Treasury Management and Training Symposium (TMTS). The session, part of the TMTS Financial Education and Empowerment Track, featured panelists representing unique perspectives from state governments that are actively doing this work. The panelists included:
- Brittany Brown, Education Specialist, Office of College and Career Readiness, Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Bill Parker, Director, Tennessee Financial Literacy Commission
- James Sinks, Financial Education Program Manager, Oregon State Treasury
The panelists shared successes and lessons learned from their work at home, providing actionable insights for state officials, nonprofit leaders, corporate partners and other financial education field stakeholders in the audience to take back and incorporate into their own day-to-day efforts. The following highlights emerged from that discussion:
Treasurers Have a Role to Play
State treasurers have an opportunity and obligation to engage with their K–12 systems and broader communities to ensure financial education programming is effective. For many treasurers this can be a formal part of their duties, such as Oregon Treasurer Steiner's role as an ex-officio member of the State Board of Education,Tennessee Treasurer Lillard’s chairmanship of the Tennessee Financial Literacy Commission (TN FLC) and Rhode Island Treasurer Diossa’s creation of the Rhode Island Financial Capability Consortium. Treasurers also can drive this work forward in their day-to-day through community convenings, stakeholder engagement and public advocacy.
Treasurers’ Involvement from Adoption to Implementation
Adopting and implementing a K–12 financial education graduation requirement or other programming requires years of effort across state agencies, individual school districts and a host of other partners. The state treasurer has an opportunity to engage with policymakers and stakeholders at every stage of the process to ensure policies are designed and implemented effectively.
Critical milestones in most states where a treasurer might be most impactful include:
- Supporting state legislators or regulators as they design new rules requiring financial education to be offered through the K–12 system
- Engaging with state education agencies to inform the development of academic standards for financial education programs, ensuring state-specific programs, policies and needs are reflected
- Bolstering teacher training efforts by providing materials and support to state and local education agencies, such as the 2025 Rhode Island Financial Literacy Educators Forum
- Championing evaluation and ongoing improvements to financial education programming
- Maintaining public awareness and support for K–12 financial education efforts through community convenings like those being hosted across Tennessee by the TN FLC, as well as in annual reports and resources such as the Financial Wellness Scorecards created by some states, including Oregon and Tennessee
Key Takeaways: What Treasurers Can Do Now
Whether they’re already deeply involved in their state’s K–12 financial education efforts or just getting started, treasurers and their staff can support this work through:
- Learning more about their state’s current financial education high school graduation requirements on the NEFE website
- Connecting with the financial education experts at their State Department or Board of Education to explore opportunities for collaboration
- Highlighting the urgent need for expanded access to effective financial education in their ongoing public engagement efforts
NEFE is grateful to Brittany, Bill and James for joining us at NAST and for sharing their experience working with their treasurers to bolster and improve their states’ K–12 financial education efforts. We hope this discussion will serve as a jumping-off point for advocates and policymakers in other states to similarly leverage the unique influence and role of their state treasurers to further this work nationwide.