HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut’s the smartest state.

At least, that’s what a Kansas-based research and publishing company says. In its first ranking of the quality of state elementary and secondary education, Morgan Quitno Press has declared Connecticut tops.

Rounding out the top five were Vermont, Montana, New Jersey and Maine.

Morgan Quitno Press said it weighed 21 factors in making its ranking, including per-pupil expenditures, public high school graduation rates, average class size, student reading and math proficiency, pupil-teacher ratios and teacher salaries.

“This award confirms what we already know to be true,” said Gov. John G. Rowland. “Our early reading and summer reading programs, our emphasis on writing skills, and our focus on building reading and math skills are approaches that are working in Connecticut.”

Massachusetts was seventh; Rhode Island was 10th; New Hampshire, 19th and New York, 26th.

Dead last? New Mexico.