Robert Bentley to chair Education Workforce Committee during NGA winter conference

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Governor Robert Bentley
Photo Credit: AP

Governor Robert Bentley will join 45 of his gubernatorial colleagues from across the country in Washington, D.C. this weekend for the National Governors Association (NGA) winter conference.

There, Bentley and the other state governors will discuss a wide range of topics that are important to the future of the State of Alabama. Items on the agenda include: health care, energy, early childhood education, transportation,infrastructure, homeland security, cybersecurity, public safety, health care reform, conservation management and species preservation.

At the conference, Bentley will also serve as chair of the NGA Education and Workforce Committee — a topic that will open this year’s conference — along with his co-chair Washington-state Democrat, Governor Jay Inslee.

“Throughout my term as Governor, I have advocated for a strong foundation for children with Alabama’s high quality First Class Pre-K program,” Bentley said in a news release. “This year, I have the great opportunity to chair the Education and Workforce Committee, and am very excited to help lead this session.”

Bentley continued, “Every child deserves the opportunity to have a high quality education. I am looking forward to working with other governors as we make early childhood education a priority and continue to advocate for state control and federal support in education decisions, so that all our students can achieve their goals and prosper as adult citizens.”

Alabama has seen tremendous success in early childhood education through the high quality First Class Pre-K program. Bentley will share results proven in Alabama’s Pre-K students and his plan to continue expanding the reach of Pre-K. Bentley will also discuss integrating successful components of the Pre-K model through the third grade.

Directly following the session, the governors will meet to adopt their new policy positions, including one that makes early education a priority.

President Donald Trump will meet with the Bentley and the other governors Monday morning to discuss several important policy issues.