If you read the fine print in the Quality Counts state rankings posted this morning on Education Week's Web site, you'll see that Maryland ranks No. 1 overall.

The report is an annual accounting of how the states are ranked on 14 different catagories. The data are massive but worth reading to see where the state's strengths and weaknesses are.

Sterling Lloyd, a senior researcher at the Educational Project in Education, the parent company of Education Week, said the analysis shows Maryland and a couple of other states are not very different.

"Maryland fared very well compared to states across the nation and Massachusettes and New York were not far behind," he said.

State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick said in an interview last night that she is "very happy." She said it reflects on the state's progress in setting pollicy. If there is one area she said needs some improvement it is in setting more rigorous standards in high schools so that more students graduate ready to go to college or into the workplace.