Interstate Compact on Education

The Interstate Compact on Education is a compact between the states. The Compact was enacted in 1966 for the purpose of having all states and territories cooperate in the goal of having a better educated citizenry. The Compact was seen as necessary because of the high mobility of citizens.

The Compact creates a commission that researches and comes up with advisory plans to improve public education as a whole. The plans are presented to the states with the hope of improving public education.

Each state gets seven members. One must be the governor, two are members of the legislature, and four are appointed by the governor, and one of those four must be the head of a state agency or institution having responsibility for public education. Ten non-voting members can be appointed from leading national organizations of professional educators. Ten members representing the U.S. can also be on the commission, but they do not get to vote. A steering committee of 30, with 1/3 being governors, sets policy. The commission can establish other committees as well.

The group must meet at least once a year and must publish a report once a year about what they have done during the year. Each state pays a percent of the financing (minus any donations) based on populations and per capita income.

Read the text of the Compact here.