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Please tell me this a joke. Please, I'm begging you:

Education Reform Idol: The Reformiest State 2011

Please join us for Education Reform Idol, where leaders from five cutting-edge states will battle for the honor of "Reformiest State 2011." This Fordham Institute panel will pit Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin against one another in what should prove to be the biggest education policy event this summer. The winner will be determined by a vote of the in-person and online audience.

Hey, for giggles, let's see how the states do on the School Funding Fairness National Report Card:

The National Report Card

State	Funding Distribution Grade	Effort Grade	Funding Level Rank	Coverage Rank
Alabama	D	C	33	38
Alaska	--	D	6	5
Arizona	C	F	46	6
Arkansas	C	B	45	30
California	C	D	31	32
Colorado	D	F	35	12
Connecticut	C	C	8	25
Delaware	D	F	10	50
District of Columbia	--	--	3	51
Florida	D	C	22	46
Georgia	C	B	24	39
Hawaii	--	A	7	48
Idaho	D	D	49	4
Illinois	F	D	29	33
Indiana	C	C	27	29
Iowa	C	C	19	11
Kansas	D	B	20	19
Kentucky	C	C	36	41
Louisiana	D	F	30	49
Maine	D	A	14	3
Maryland	D	B	13	47
Massachusetts	B	C	9	22
Michigan	D	A	23	16
Minnesota	A	D	15	20
Mississippi	C	B	47	40
Missouri	D	D	43	44
Montana	B	C	38	7
Nebraska	C	D	25	24
Nevada	F	F	39	15
New Hampshire	F	A	18	10
New Jersey	A	A	2	21
New Mexico	C	C	34	18
New York	D	A	5	42
North Carolina	D	F	44	31
North Dakota	D	F	40	14
Ohio	A	B	17	36
Oklahoma	C	F	50	23
Oregon	C	F	37	17
Pennsylvania	D	B	12	43
Rhode Island	C	B	11	37
South Carolina	C	A	28	34
South Dakota	B	F	41	13
Tennessee	C	F	51	45
Texas	C	D	42	26
Utah	A	F	48	2
Vermont	C	A	4	9
Virginia	D	D	21	28
Washington	C	F	32	27
West Virginia	C	A	26	8
Wisconsin	C	B	16	35
Wyoming	C	A	1	1
Note: The National Report Card is based on three years of the most recent available data, from 2005 to 2007. While this report was in production, the 2008 school financial data was released. An updated analysis of the fairness profiles is available at 2008 Update. The updated fairness profiles are largely consistent with the published findings.

Nobody in the top 15 for funding level rank - the amount spent per pupil.

One barely in the top 30 for coverage rank - basically, whether rich families send their kids to private schools (well, it's more complex than that - click through to see).

Yeah, sounds "reformy" to me...

Oh, and who's on the panel? Well, not one practicing teacher. Not one principal. Not one district supervisor. Not one professor of education. Not one teachers union official.

I need a drink...