Republicans Debate in Des Moines

Huckabee: I had executive experience longer than anyone on this stage running a government. And I had also the most, I think, impressive education record. ...

Romney: Just one small adjustment to what Governor Huckabee had to say. And I don't believe you had the finest record of any governor in America on education. ... The – the kids in our state, as I indicated, scored number one in all four measures on the national exams, and they did that because of Republican principles, free market principles, applied – and there was a partnership.

So is Huckabee wrong? It's true that Massachusetts school children scored first in the nation in the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, scoring a clean sweep among both fourth-graders and eighth-graders in math and reading. (It was a three-way tie for first in eighth-grade reading, with students in Massachusetts, Vermont and the Department of Defense Education Activity all turning in the same average scores.) But Massachusetts also had ranked at or near the top before Romney took office, so he's straining the facts to attribute the success entirely to "Republican principles" and his leadership.

Arkansas consistently scored below the national average before Huckabee came along, and on most tests it still does. But on all four NAEP tests, Arkansas' scores moved closer to the average during Huckabee's time in office. In fourth-grade math, Arkansas students were near enough to the national average in 2007 as to be within the statistical margin of error, though for eighth-grade math, as well as reading in both fourth and eighth grades, it was still significantly below average.

Huckabee also substantially increased funding for schools, under a mandate from the Arkansas Supreme Court that called the school funding system unconstitutional. And while the Arkansas General Assembly dragged its feet and funds did not increase as much as originally recommended, the school system was pronounced satisfactory after Huckabee's changes.

Coming from below average to not-so-much-below average, and from "unconstitutionally unfair" to "satisfactory" are both significant. Whether that constitutes the "most impressive" record among GOP candidates, we'll leave others to judge.