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Gov. Robert Bentley

(Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

Gov. Robert Bentley told the Alabama Association of Regional Councils Conference, "Our education system in this state sucks," according to video posted this morning by WSFA TV.

The AARC is an umbrella group comprised of regional councils to coordinate economic development activities, according to the group's website.

The crowd laughed and applauded in response.

Bentley continued: "I don't use that term very much, but let me tell you. I wanna tell you this: When we are 51st on our NAEP scores in 4th grade math in this state...51st? And we ain't got but 50 states? That's pretty sad. And it's intolerable. And we're gonna do something about it."