Grading The States 2001

Alabama had the worst grades among the fifty states in 1999, with a D average. Its newly elected governor vowed there would be improvement — and there has been. Alabama’s grade in the current survey rose in four of the five areas the GPP covers. True, the state still weighs in with a C- average — hardly a candidate for the dean’s list — but the important thing is the movement.Four states led the nation in 1999 with average grades of A-. They were Missouri, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Missouri and Virginia slipped a bit, but Utah and Washington remain at the top of the list — and Michigan has joined them there.