Gov. Huckabee is the chairman-elect of the Education Commission of the States (ECS), which he will lead from July 2004 until July 2006, succeeding Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. The ECS helps governors, legislators, state education officials and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. Gov. Huckabee is also the current chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board, created in 1948 by southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region.

Arkansas' ACTAAP system is widely hailed as one of the nation's best school accountability programs. Gov. Huckabee's Smart Start initiative placed 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.

In addition to his education reform efforts, Gov. Huckabee has been a leader in improving health care for Arkansans. He created the ARKids First program, a nationally recognized initiative that provides health insurance to tens of thousands of children who previously had no access to health insurance.

The Governor is the author of three books. He is on the nine-member executive committee of the National Governors Association (NGA). The NGA, founded in 1908, is the group through which the nation's governors collectively influence the development of national policy. He is also the NGA's lead governor on the issue of welfare reform. He will become the NGA vice chairman in July 2004.