A message to California gubernatorial candidates: Public education in the Golden State is in academic free fall.

Scott Morgan, president of the Lawrence research and publishing company Morgan Quitno Press, released state-by-state education statistics Wednesday that show California ranks 44th in terms of quality of elementary and secondary education.

California fell 15 places from last year’s first edition of the company’s Education State Rankings.

“I’ll be interested to see if we get sucked into the California governor’s race,” Morgan said.

That state’s recall election of Gov. Gray Davis is scheduled for Oct. 7.

Release of the 450-page book, which is typically bought by libraries and government agencies, coincided with Morgan Quitno’s presentation of the 2003-2004 Smartest State Award.

Massachusetts earned the No. 1 ranking, improving upon last year’s seventh place finish to bump Connecticut from the top spot.

“Massachusetts has a winning combination,” Morgan said. “The award recognizes those states with a strong commitment to its students and teachers, an emphasis on excellence in the classroom and support of safe, efficiently run public schools.”

He said evaluation of statistics in 21 categories indicated California didn’t allocate available education resources wisely. The state’s public schools are plagued by large class sizes, he said.

“You’ve got to have a plan,” said Morgan, a former Lawrence school board member. “Otherwise, you end up being the Texas Rangers of the school system. Spend a lot, nothing to show for it.”

The best, worst

Rounding out the top five in the 2003-2004 edition were Vermont, Connecticut, Montana and New Jersey.

Kansas, ranked 14th last year in the first edition of Education State Rankings, fell one spot to 15th.

Randy Weseman, superintendent of schools in Lawrence, said he wasn’t surprised by that mark.

“In Kansas, we’re holding steady,” he said. “It’s a credit to the system as a whole. Hopefully, we can keep that going.”

At the bottom of the pile for the second year was New Mexico.

Kathleen Morgan, editor and publisher of the ranking book, said New Mexico’s problems centered on the high percentage of children living in poverty and the low performance of students on standardized tests.

“It all works into results of this award,” she said.

Other struggling states: Nevada, 49th; Mississippi, 48th; Louisiana, 47th; and Alabama, 46th.

How Kansas fared

Here is where Kansas finished in key education categories:

• 32nd in per-pupil public elementary and secondary school expenditures. For 2001, Kansas spent $6,521 on each student. The national average was $7,284, with the high in New York at $10,922 and the low in Utah at $4,625.
• 17th in public high school graduation rate in 2001. In Kansas, 74.5 percent of students graduated. The national average was 67.3 percent, ranging from a high of 88.3 percent in New Jersey to 48 percent in South Carolina.
• Third in percent of public school eighth-graders “proficient” or better in reading in 2002. Thirty-eight percent of Kansas students were at that reading level. The national average was 21 percent, with a high of 40 percent in Vermont and low of 13 percent in Mississippi.
• 30th in percent of public school fourth-graders proficient or better in writing in 2002. Twenty-one percent of Kansas students were at that level. The national average was 27 percent, with the high of 49 percent in Connecticut and low of 13 percent in Mississippi.

Morgan Quitno Press, founded in 1989, specializes in reference books and monthly reports that compare states and cities in several subject areas.