News Release: State Treasurer Embarks on Tour of JAG-K Programs
State Treasurer Lynn Rogers understands the importance of educating tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and employees. He is partnering with Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas (JAG-K) to help ensure the future of the Kansas workforce.
JAG-K prepares students for successful futures. For many of its participants across the state, that future will include some form of post-secondary education, which can be costly.
Rogers has a passion for education. As the father of three adult children, he knows the burden that comes with student debt. As a grandfather, Lynn knows the importance of saving early to help his grandchildren achieve their future dreams.
At JAG-K’s recent state staff training conference, Rogers spoke of the importance of higher education and an important tool for saving to pay for it – Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Accounts.
With the goal of encouraging students to save for post-secondary opportunities, Rogers has visited several JAG-K programs, and plans to visit all 79 locations, which serve approximately 4,000 students across the state. He plans to award a scholarship in the form of a Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Account at each stop on the tour.
“JAG-K is a great program that allows students to explore career paths and provides them with additional support until they graduate high school,” Rogers said. “We want to encourage these students to keep going and to achieve their dreams.”
Learning Quest 529 Education Savings accounts help Kansas families save for their children in tax-advantaged 529 accounts. Learning Quest offers education savings accounts to help you pay education expenses for individuals that you designate, or for yourself. Kansas taxpayers may take an annual deduction of up to $3,000 ($6,000 for married, filing jointly) from Kansas adjusted gross income for contributions into each beneficiary’s account.
“Helping Kansas students be prepared for the education that will launch them into a great career is just one of the many reasons I love being State Treasurer,” said Rogers.
“We so appreciate the initiative shown by the State Treasurer to encourage saving for post-secondary education, and the demonstration of how to use the Learning Quest 529 program,” said JAG-K President/CEO Chuck Knapp. “At JAG-K, we are helping students prepare for the future, and that involves learning how to save for future opportunities.”
JAG-K is a multi-year, in-school program for students in grades 7-12 that offers tools to successfully transition students into post-secondary school, the military, or directly into the workforce with marketable skills. Participants in the program face multiple barriers to success that their JAG-K Career Specialist helps them overcome through a nationally-accredited, evidence-based model.
“Among its many goals, JAG-K is dedicated to promoting financial literacy. Part of that goal is showing students how to save and how to invest in their own education,” Knapp said. “Having Treasurer Rogers visit our programs and cast that vision will be very impactful.”
The 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization is a state affiliate of the national JAG program network which operates in 40 different states and territories. It is primarily funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant to the State of Kansas administered by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF). In addition to school districts and DCF, JAG-K partners with the Kansas Department of Education. Other JAG-K funding sources include ADM, AT&T, John Deere, Kansas Health Foundation, Synchrony Financial, the Taco Bell Foundation and Walmart.
To learn more about JAG-K, visit www.jagkansas.org, ‘Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas’ on Facebook, and on Twitter at @JAG_Kansas.