The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is a nonprofit that tracks educational policy. Over 300 appointed commissioners from across the United States lead it . ECS was founded as a result of the creation of the Compact for Education, an interstate compact approved by Congress and works with all 50 U.S. states, three territories (American Samoa, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands) and the District of Columbia.

The idea of establishing a compact on education and creating an operational arm to follow up on its goals was originally proposed by James Bryant Conant, president of Harvard University. Between 1965 and 1967, John W. Gardner, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and former North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford took up the idea, drafted the proposed Compact, obtained the endorsement of all 50 states and got Congress' approval.

The organization opened its offices in Denver in 1967. It administered the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) until the Reagan administration privatized the test in 1982, which is now administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). That decision threatened the commission's very existence, leading to the virtual closure of ECS's Information Clearinghouse, the layoff or early retirement of half of its 117-member staff, and a 50% cut in the organization's budget.

Each member jurisdiction (state, territory, and the District of Columbia) has seven seats on the commission, including the governor and six appointed members, usually including members of the state legislature and education officials, such as the state education commissioner or head of the state education agency.

Awards

The commission presents three awards annually. The James Bryant Conant award has been given since 1977 for "outstanding individual contributions to education". The commission also presents the Frank Newman award to a state or territory and a corporate award to a corporation or nonprofit organization.

Commission chairs The governor of a member jurisdiction serves as the commissioner chair. The term changed from one year to two years in 2002. It alternates between political parties.

As chairman from 2004-2006 and Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee launched an effort to increase student participation in the arts. An analysis released in 2008 found that elementary school class time for the arts had decreased by an average of 35%.

Term Governor State Focus Organizing Terry Sanford North Carolina 1965–1966 John H. Chafee Rhode Island 1966–1967 Charles L. Terry Jr. Delaware 1967–1968 Cal Rampton Utah 1968–1969 Robert E. McNair South Carolina 1969–1970 Tom McCall Oregon 1970–1971 Russell W. Peterson Delaware 1971–1972 Robert W. Scott North Carolina 1972–1973 Winfield Dunn Tennessee 1973–1974 Reubin Askew Florida 1974–1975 John C. West South Carolina 1975–1976 Arch A. Moore Jr. West Virginia 1976–1977 Jerry Apodaca New Mexico 1977–1978 Otis R. Bowen Indiana 1978–1979 Dixy Lee Ray Washington 1979–1980 William G. Milliken Michigan 1980–1981 Bob Graham Florida 1981–1982 Robert D. Ray Iowa 1982–1983 James B. Hunt Jr. North Carolina 1983–1984 Pierre S. du Pont Delaware 1984–1985 Charles S. Robb Virginia Business and Education Reform 1985–1986 Thomas Kean New Jersey Teacher Renaissance: Improving Undergraduate Education 1986–1987 Bill Clinton Arkansas Speaking of Leadership 1987–1988 John Ashcroft Missouri Family Involvement in the Schools 1988–1989 Rudy Perpich Minnesota Partners in Learning: Linking College Mentors with At-Risk Schools 1989–1990 Garrey E. Carruthers New Mexico Sharing Responsibility for Success 1990–1991 Booth Gardner Washington All Kids Can Learn 1991–1992 John R. McKernan Jr. Maine Keeping the Promises of Reform 1992–1993 Evan Bayh Indiana Education for a Revitalized Democracy 1993–1994 Jim Edgar Illinois Building Communities that Support Education Reform 1994–1995 Roy Romer Colorado Making Quality Count in Undergraduate Education 1995–1996 Tommy Thompson Wisconsin Connecting Learning and Work 1996–1997 Terry Branstad Iowa Harnessing Technology for Teaching and Learning 1997–1998 Zell Miller Georgia Investing in Student Achievement 1998–1999 Paul E. Patton Kentucky Transforming Postsecondary Education 1999–2000 Jim Geringer Wyoming In Pursuit of Quality Teaching 2000–2001 Jeanne Shaheen New Hampshire Early Learning: Improving Results for Young Children 2001–2002 Kenny Guinn Nevada Leading for Literacy 2002–2003 Roy Barnes Georgia Closing the Achievement Gap 2003–2004 Mark Warner Virginia High-Quality Teachers for Hard-to-Staff Schools 2004–2006 Mike Huckabee Arkansas The Arts: A Lifetime of Learning 2006–2008 Kathleen Sebelius Kansas Great Teachers for Tomorrow 2008–2010 Tim Pawlenty Minnesota 2010–2012 John Hickenlooper Colorado 2012–2014 Brian Sandoval Nevada 2015–2017 Steve Bullock Montana 2017–2019 Phil Bryant Mississippi 2019–2021 Tom Wolf Pennsylvania 2021–2022 Kim Reynolds Iowa 2022–2023 Asa Hutchinson ArkansasExpand K12 computer science education 2023–2025 Laura Kelly Kansas

Commission executive directors/presidents

Tenure Name Title 1967–1976 Wendell H. Pierce Executive director 1976–1980 Warren Hill Executive director 1980–1984 Robert Andringa Executive director 1985–1999 Frank Newman President 2000–2005 Ted Sanders President 2005–2006 Piedad F. Robertson President 2007–2012 Roger Sampson President 2012–2024 Jeremy Anderson President 2024–present Jose Munoz President

References

Sources Official website