Projo Politics Blog

Governor Carcieri traveled to Washington D.C. before sunrise on Wednesday for a journey that saw him back in Rhode Island shortly after lunch time.

He was in the nation’s capital to sit on a panel, brought together by Education Week, that focused on reforming in pre-kindergarten through college education.

States across the country have established groups known as “P-16 Councils” to help improve the continuum in a student’s education, smoothing the transition from one phase to the next.

But Rhode Island is one of the few states where the governor heads that committee.

In a brief telephone interview after his return to the State House, Carcieri said that chairing the council allows him to stay involved.

“One of the things from my perspective that I’m looking at is the question of how I institutionalize this process and put pre K-16 [initiatives] in place,” he said.

Education Week published a story that highlights what it calls Carcieri’s hands-on efforts to help change the path of education in this state.

Spokesman Jeff Neal said the state paid for the governor's plane fare and that of a state trooper who traveled with him.

-- Cynthia Needham, Journal State House Bureau

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