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On Friday, Feb. 7, Southerner editor Quinn Mulholland spoke with Governor Nathan Deal about his priorities regarding public education. Here is what the governor said:

On investment in education: “One of the things that we have been able to do this year in the budget process is to put [into the education system] over half a billion dollars, the largest single infusion in the last seven years … We’re trying to focus on making sure those resources are put in the right places and that they produce the best results. We’ve already seen school systems go back and revisit their calendar that they’d already put in place for next school year, which included furlough days, and going back and eliminating those furlough days in anticipation of the new revenue.”

On dual enrollment: “Two years ago … we decided we would fund dual enrollment and encourage that. We’re seeing more and more students enroll both in high school courses as well as in technical colleges and colleges and universities, and speeding up their educational process.”

On scholarships for technical colleges: “This year, we announced proposals that would expand the opportunities for 100-percent funding of tuition in the technical college system for areas where we already have job shortages and to encourage people to pursue degrees in those areas.”

On education as a whole: “It is a multi-faceted approach that we have, because that’s really what education is. It confronts people at various levels of their life. But primarily on K through 12, [we want] to make sure we get that right, because that is the foundation on which all other education has to be resting.”