By Howard Blume

October 3, 2012, 8:32 p.m.

Mitt Romney defended his record on education by noting, at least twice, that Massachusetts, where he served as governor, is “No. 1 in the nation.”

Student achievement is comparatively high in Massachusetts based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test given to a sample of students nationwide. Massachusetts also has been praised for its rigorous academic standards. The state has the advantage of higher funding than many states and, compared with California, for example, has a less challenging student population, in terms of family income, parent education levels and native English speakers.

“Romney boasts of Massachusetts as No. 1 in education, but that happened before he became governor,” said education historian Diane Ravitch in an email. She is critical of both candidates on education but more critical of Romney. “In fact, Massachusetts became No. 1 by doing things that Romney now opposes, like spending more on education, more on early childhood education.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-fact-check-romney-obama-education-spending-20121003,0,1065538.story