[ABFM] budgeting and financial management teaching materials from Public Agenda

[Rebecca Hendrick]

The nonprofit and nonpartisan organization Public Agenda  
(http://www.publicagenda.org/) recently launched a new educational  
initiative called Students Face Up to the Nation's Finances that  will 
be of interest to instructors who teach budgeting and financial  
management.   Materials available for download from the initiative  
website (http://www.facingup.org/our-budget-our-future) provide  
resources to assist college-level teaching and student discussion  about 
federal fiscal issues.  The available learning materials  include 
readings, film slides,  Web-based components, discussion  guides, an 
essay contest, and  surveys designed to raise students'  awareness of 
our national fiscal  challenges (our  $9.5-trillion-and-growing national 
debt and its causes  and  potentially calamitous consequences), and 
engage students across the  nation in a discussion of the solutions. The 
materials can be   adopted as mini-courses within existing classes or 
used by student organizations on campuses.

The initiative is being supported by the newly established Peter  G. 
Peterson Foundation <http://www.pgpf.org/> and is intended to  raise 
awareness of the many issues involved in America's growing  fiscal 
crisis, spark serious discussion of the problems and policy  choices 
posed by the looming deficit, and motivate students to  become active 
citizens demanding policy changes.  Students Face Up  to the Nation's 
Finances is a natural outgrowth of Public Agenda's  successful, ongoing, 
nationwide citizens' dialogue project, Facing  Up to the Nation's 
Finances <http://www.facingup.org>. This  multiyear collaboration has 
involved The Concord Coalition  <http://www.concordcoalition.org/>, The 
Brookings Institution  <http://www.brookings.edu/>, The Heritage 
Foundation  <http://www.heritage.org/>, and Viewpoint Learning  
<http://www.viewpointlearning.com/>. 

Public Agenda requests that faculty or  student groups using the  
materials contact us to inform us of their  participation, direct  any 
questions to us, and provide feedback in the  form of essays,  survey 
results, and blogs to our Web site.  Please contact Andrew  Yarrow, Vice 
President and Washington Director of Public Agenda at  
ayarrow at publicagenda.org  or  202-719-9777 for more information.

-- 
Rebecca Hendrick, Assoc. Professor
Public Administration (M/C 278)
College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
412 S. Peoria St.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL  60607
312.355.0305(Office)
312.243.3970(Home)
312.996.8804(fax)
hendrick at uic.edu