Someone's not giving us the full story.

Much hubub was made when Education Week announced its state rankings a few months ago, showing Florida was 10th best in the nation:

Today, pigs fly.

Florida ranks No. 10 among states in education quality, according to the latest annual report card from the highly regarded Education Week newspaper.

The rankings, released Wednesday, are based on six broad categories -- including student achievement, standards and accountability, and funding -- and dozens of specific indicators, such as licensing requirements for teachers and scores on Advanced Placement exams for high school students.

Florida earned a B- this year, up from a C+ last year. The national average is a C.

In three years, Florida has climbed from No. 31 to No. 14 to No. 10.

"It's extraordinary news," Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith said. "This is a very credible evaluation of state performance against other states."

...but wait a minute. Let's take the narrative here at face value: Florida's education is great and getting greater. If that's the case, then why do more than 43% of the students who enter this fantastic system drop out? A new study released today from "Diplomas Count" shows Florida is 5th worst in the nation in dropout rate, which is consistent with previous studies:

The "Diplomas Count" study determined that 57.5 percent of students completed high school on time with a regular diploma in 2006, compared to 69.2 percent nationwide. That's the fifth lowest in the nation.

State Department of Education figures indicate the 2006 rate was actually 71 percent. The state's calculation takes special and General Education Development diplomas into account.

I threw that second paragraph in to point out some of the yawning standards and measurement gaps that seem to plague the education debate.

This is one of many reasons why groups like the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy are so important, to help us figure out what all of this means. In January they published a brief that drills down into the Education Week rankings and uncovered the full story. I encourage you to read it. Florida earns high marks on accountability measures, mostly due to heavy focus on this issue since the 1980s, but particularly in the last decade with the arrival of Jeb Bush's "A+" Plan and the rise of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) as a universal assessment tool. However, Florida falls flat on its face when it comes to funding (although not on funding equity, thanks to progressive Gov. Ruben Askew's brainchild, the Florida Education Funding Program, FEFP) and graduation rates.

The two previous points: funding and graduation rates, are two key focal points in the education debate. No matter how rigorous or tightly controlled our accountability standards are, if schools aren't well funded, and kids are forced into a straitjacket-like curriculum, our education system will consistently fail.

Looking solely at the state's FCAT data, we see that Florida students do well in elementary school, but by high school, we've lost many. Reading scores are where this is most striking, where 53% of 4th graders get a 3 (passing) or above and only 37% of 10th graders do the same. There is much debate about why this is (strict curriculum, not enough PE and electives, lack of parental/community involvement...it runs the spectrum.)

Does Florida have a great education system? I wish I could say yes, but I'm not convinced in the slightest. A system that is touted as a good one, but can't even graduate 60% of its high school students leaves much to be desired.