Kathy Christie, senior vice president at the Education Commission of the States (ECS), resigned on May 1, 2006, saying that the Denver-based group faces a financial crisis, and that she doubts the current ECS president can fix it. By the end of the week, the accounting manager had also resigned, expressing similar concerns, and two policy analysts had announced their departures as well. The leaders of the 40-year-old clearinghouse on state education policy responded that the group's financial future is sound. But Ms. Christie wrote in her resignation letter that the ECS is relying on a $1 million line of credit to balance its books, and that it has been unable to win grants to expand policy research and generate income for administrative costs. ECS President Piedad F. Robertson acknowledged that the group has faced fiscal challenges, but said its finances would improve once member states began paying their dues as scheduled in the coming months.