Character Makes a Difference: Where I'm from, Where I've Been, and What I Believe

Mike Huckabee

Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas is recognized as a national leader in the areas of education reform and health care reform. Huckabee is the chairman of the Education Commission of the States, a highly respected education policy organization. He will lead the ECS until July 2006. The ECS helps governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. The organization, which is based in Denver, was formed in 1965.

Arkansas' ACTAAP system is widely hailed as one of the nation's best school accountability programs. Huckabee has pushed through reforms in Arkansas that have significantly expanded the availability of college scholarships, increased the number of charter schools and established new approaches to workforce education. His Smart Start initiative placed a heavy emphasis on reading and mathematics for students from kindergarten through the fourth grade. He then created Smart Step, a similar emphasis for students from the fifth through the eighth grades. Student scores on standardized tests have risen steadily since the creation of Smart Start and Smart Step.