California spends less money per student on schools than most other states in the nation and its students rank lower than the national average in math and reading, according to a newly released study from Education Week, a national magazine.

California schools ranked 45th out of 50 states in per-student spending, meaning schools spent less per student than 90 percent of the states, according to figures from the 2000-01 school year. That year was the most recent year for which researchers had comparable data from all 50 states.

But California schools are doing a better job at recruiting high-quality teachers, holding its students to high academic standards and being fair with its school funding, according to the report.

Researchers, who graded all 50 states in several areas based on test scores and other data from state departments of education, said California schools seemed to score in the middle in most categories: not the worst, but not anywhere close to the best.

"There are no Ds or Fs for California, which is more than we could say for some of the other states," said Jennifer Park, a research associate for the Maryland-based magazine, which has released an annual assessment of states for eight years. "But there are things there that need work, especially the funding."

State department of education officials called the report a relatively fair assessment of California's schools.

"Our schools have improved consistently but it's very clear that we have a lot of work to do," said education department spokesman Rick Miller.

California's most serious problem, according to the report, is money.

Schools spent $6,258 per student per year, compared with the national average of $7,376. By the 2003-04 school year, spending had jumped to $6,887 per student per year, still nearly $500 less than the national average for three years before.

Only Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Utah spent less on each student, according to the report. The District of Columbia and New York state spent the most, up to 80 percent more per student than California.

"The money situation is tough, and it's no surprise to anyone that we're close to the bottom," said San Diego County Office of Education spokesman Jim Esterbrooks. "The state budget has been bad, and it's not going to get any better this Friday."

The first draft of the state's budget is scheduled to be released Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is faced with a $17 billion budget deficit. Schwarzenegger has pledged not to cut school funding to help balance the budget, but schools aren't banking on getting much more money next year to help them climb in the school funding rankings.

California students also scored lower than the nationwide average on national math and English tests last year, according to the report. Only one-quarter of the state's fourth-grade students scored at or above grade level in math, and just 21 percent of fourth-graders could read at a level appropriate for their grade. Nationwide, about 30 percent of fourth-grade students were proficient in math and about 27 percent could read at their grade level.

Local school districts were not included in the report, but schools in North County generally post higher scores than those throughout the state.

Miller pinned the relatively low scores on California's "unique challenges," including the nation's largest school system and a population where 25 percent of students don't speak English fluently.

"The things that make California great also present some challenges for schools: our diverse population, our combination of small-world districts and huge, urban districts," Miller said. "We have issues here that a lot of states just don't face."

Even with the low rankings, standardized test scores in California have increased steadily for the last five years.

The state's schools earned its highest grade ---- a B ---- in the areas of academic standards. The state has an extensive, detailed list of skills each student should learn in each grade, and officials said they thought California should have received an A for its high expectations of students.

"If anything, we think the grade for standards is a little low," Esterbrooks said.

The report also measured special education programs throughout the United States. The report did not assign grades to states for their special education programs, but the report did show that most special education students in California are scoring lower than their peers in other states on national math and English tests.

Spending on special education students, however, is higher in California than throughout the rest of the nation. States spent an average of $7,194 on each special education student per year, while California spent $7,526.

Officials cautioned the public against making conclusions about specific school districts from the sweeping, national report.

"These reports keep us focused, but it's dangerous to put too much stock in something like this," Esterbrooks said. "There are about a thousand districts in California, and to assign all of them one grade isn't the best way of looking at your local school."

Research for the rankings was funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, a Philadelphia-based public interest group that funds demographic studies.

The study is available at www.edweek.org.