ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday that her future son-in-law is not a high-school dropout as the press is reporting. 

Also on Wednesday, Palin made her first comment about the birth of her first grandchild.
Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, told The Associated Press that 18-year-old Levi Johnston is enrolled in high school through a correspondence program. 

Palin said some media outlets also are erroneously reporting that her 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, is a high school dropout. 

The governor added that Bristol is enrolled in regular high school and also has taken correspondence courses. 

A phone message left at the home of Johnston's mother was not immediately returned Wednesday. 

The AP reported in an October story that Johnston dropped out of high school to work as an apprentice electrician on the North Slope oil fields. 

The wire service hasn't mentioned Bristol Palin's status in school. 

Bristol Palin and Johnston are the parents of Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, who was born Saturday. 

Palin's office initially would not comment on the birth of the couple's baby, but on Wednesday the governor broke the silence. 

"We are over the moon with the arrival of this healthy, beautiful baby," Palin said in a statement. "The road ahead for this young couple will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Bristol and Levi are committed to accomplish what millions of other young parents have accomplished, to provide a loving and secure environment for their child." 

In the statement, Palin's spokesman Bill McAllister said, "The high volume of press inquiries, along with some erroneous information that was published, prompted the governor to make a statement." 

In the same statement, Bristol Palin said she "obviously discourages" teen pregnancy and understands previous plans have been forever changed. 

"Teenagers need to prevent pregnancy to begin with -- this isn't ideal," the teenager said. "But I'm fortunate to have a supportive family which is dealing with this together. Tripp is so perfectly precious; we love him with all our hearts. I can't imagine life without him now." 

Johnston has said that he and Bristol plan to get married. 

"We both love each other. We both want to marry each other. And that's what we are going to do," Johnston told the AP in October. 

He also said he looked forward to becoming a family man. 

"We're up for it. I'm excited to have my first kid. It's going to be a lot of hard work but we can handle it."