Those in education like to pooh-pooh rankings. They say they don’t have much substance and that they shouldn’t be of such public interest.

That’s when the reports show a team or school or city has dropped in the rankings.

But, when a team or school or city or about any other entity being judged is reported to have climbed or improved in a ranking, it doesn’t take long for fans or boosters of these programs to tout their new ranking.

Congratulations to those Kansas University programs that scored well in a recent U.S. News & World Report ranking. KU is a top-flight, state-aided university that has many fine programs. However, there is no room for complacency because each department or school always can do better and other major schools also are constantly trying to improve their programs.

Even though teachers, school administrators or others might say otherwise, rankings are important. Teachers and administrators may suggest they pay little, if any, attention to rankings, but the general public sure does – and so do state legislators. They are eager to see how their school, university, athletic team or other programs are ranked in comparison to programs at other schools.

Again, congratulations to those KU programs that improved their standings in the latest U.S. News study. The KU press release telling about the high rankings of a number of programs did not mention whether other KU programs had dropped or how other schools, aside from the education and law schools compared to last year’s rankings.

The questions of funding and excellence go hand in hand, and every effort should be made to make sure the state of Kansas is providing adequate funding to the universities overseen by the Kansas Board of Regents. Unfortunately, recent history shows that the percentage of the state’s general fund going to support KU and other state universities is dropping year by year.

It is increasingly difficult to sustain excellence in this kind of environment.