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Education Commission of the States outlines national models for state K‑12 governance to Vermont committees
Summary
Education Commission of the States staff briefed the Vermont House and Senate Education Committees on four common state models for K‑12 governance, comparing how chief state school officers and state boards are selected and what powers boards typically hold.
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) presented a 50‑state comparison of K‑12 governance models to a joint hearing of the Vermont House and Senate Education Committees on Tuesday, Feb. 11, focusing on who selects chief state school officers and the authorities state boards hold.
"We were founded about 60 years ago through the Interstate Compact for Education as a national nonpartisan and non advocacy education policy center," said Joel Moore, director of state relations for ECS, describing the organization's role in collecting and summarizing state practices. The presentation, delivered by Moore and Zeke (last name not provided), assistant policy director at ECS, summarized how different states assign authority across governors, state boards, and chief state school officers.
ECS framed four common governance models: (1) governor appoints both the board and chief; (2) governor appoints the board, board appoints the chief; (3) governor appoints the board and voters elect the chief; and (4) elected boards that appoint the chief. Moore and Zeke told committee members that Vermont follows the first model, in which the governor appoints board members and the chief state school officer serves as a secretary appointed by the governor.
The presenters provided several national tallies from their 50‑state comparison: 20 chief state school officers are appointed by state boards, 17 are appointed by governors, 12 are elected, one state's chief is appointed by an executive‑level secretary, and Oregon's governor serves as superintendent. They said 30 chief state school officers have formal roles written in state constitutions and that in 33 states the State Board of Education oversees teacher licensure. The ECS team also reported that 21 states plus the District of Columbia include a student representative on their state board and that 12 states include teacher representation.
On board selection, ECS cited the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASB) matrix and said 35 states have appointed state boards while 15 have elected boards, with 10 of those 15 composed exclusively of elected members. Moore and Zeke emphasized the variation across states in statutory and constitutional powers, including differing rulemaking authority and whether boards set standards, approve department budgets, or exercise other supervisory powers.
Committee members pressed ECS for more detail about rulemaking authority and whether state boards are full‑time or part‑time. "It truly does vary pretty widely by state," Zeke said, and ECS offered to follow up with a memo comparing New England states and examples of how boards are staffed and compensated. Representative Long noted Vermont's 2012 change that elevated the head of education from commissioner to secretary and said that change affected the relationship between the State Board and the executive office.
Moore and Zeke said their review did not show a single governance model that consistently outperforms others; instead, they emphasized collaboration among governors, boards and chiefs and recommended focusing on measurable student achievement goals regardless of structure. ECS offered members resources on ecs.org and an offer to provide written memos through their information request process.
The committees did not take formal action during the presentation; the session concluded with committee members asking for follow‑up materials and a promise from ECS to provide additional state comparisons and staffing information.
