In a recent public education study, Pennsylvania didn't make the grade.

Education Week magazine released its fifth annual report on the efforts of states to improve their public education system and Pennsylvania received low marks.

In the report, Pennsylvania received a D in standards and accountability, C- for improving teacher quality, B- in adequacy of resources, and D- in equity of resources.

But Dan Langan, press secretary of education for Gov. Tom Ridge, said the report does not accurately represent Pennsylvania's schools.

"There is more to it than just a report card," Langan said. "This report is irrelevant; the grades are irrelevant."

However, House Democrats disagree.

"We were disappointed but not surprised," said Michael Manzo, press secretary for Democratic Leader William DeWeese.

The Ridge administration has no agenda for public education and is more concerned with private school vouchers, Manzo said.

The Ridge administration encourages Pennsylvania to look at the report with a skeptical eye, Langan said.

"This report doesn't capture what's been happening in Pennsylvania," he said.

The state has been putting in place actions to better public education, such as the Education Empowerment Act, that allow the state to take over failing schools. The state has also put stricter requirements on teachers and now forces them to complete 180 hours of continuing education in the classroom, or six college credits, every five years.

But these actions have not come without criticism.

"The only thing the Empowerment Act has done is put 11 states on the failing schools list," Manzo said.

House Democrats suggest a plan that would expand the Head Start program, implement full-day kindergarten, better classrooms and support alternative education.

"States around us are making leaps and bounds and we are doing nothing in Pennsylvania," Manzo said. "The report shows us that."

Education Week reported Pennsylvania has a "low-pressure recipe" for improving its schools.

While Democrats and Republicans argue about how to improve public education, both sides agree that more has to be done to better the public school system in Pennsylvania.

The magazine's report, called "Quality Counts 2001," is based on a nationally representative sample of 1,019 public school teachers.

It also includes a comprehensive survey of what the 50 states are doing to set academic standards, create testing and accountability systems and how they encourage students and teachers to reach higher expectations.