This week, Governor Kelly was elected to serve as Chair of Education Commission of the States (ECS) for the 2023-25 term.
This election, by a bipartisan group of commissioners from every state, happened during ECS’s annual National Forum on Education Policy in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“I am looking forward to working with ECS to continue its legacy as a key partner for education leaders across the country,” Kelly said. “The organization has been absolutely invaluable to me and my team, and I want to be a champion for it by leading it through its next chapter.”
Education Commission of the States is the premier education policy organization working to support state leaders nationwide. ECS provides policy and technical assistance to elected officials and policy leaders from all education sectors. ECS comprises over 300 appointed commissioners from every state and territory representing governor’s offices, state legislatures, state boards of education, chief state school officers, higher education authorities, and local education officials. ECS brings together these leaders to encourage collaboration across states and advance educational best practices.
As Chair, Governor Kelly will develop and lead a Chair’s Initiative to highlight practices underway in the Kansas education system that can serve as a model for how other states can build upon Kansas’ leadership. Kelly’s Chair’s Initiative will focus on expanding educational opportunities for justice-impacted individuals. On July 1st, Pell Grant eligibility was restored for incarcerated populations across the country, opening opportunities for around 760,000 incarcerated individuals to participate in college coursework nationwide.
In Kansas, correctional populations have had access to Pell-eligible coursework since 2020 through the Second Chance Pell Experimental Site Initiative, which piloted the provision of college coursework in correctional settings.
Now that Pell eligibility has been restored for justice-impacted individuals across the country, Kelly said that Kansas is a model for creating partnerships that expand programming into correctional facilities and prepare incarcerated individuals to reenter society with significant work and educational experience.
