Another list. Another head-scratcher. Three Tampa Bay high schools are in the Top 100 on the latest best-high-schools-in-the-country list from Newsweek, with Lakewood's Center for Advanced Technologies (a D school) at No. 22, Hillsborough High (a C school) at No. 34 and Plant High (an A school) at No. 70.

Meanwhile, St. Petersburg High, which came in at No. 69 last year, tumbled to No. 302, and King High in Tampa dropped like a rock from No. 39 to No. 207.

Confused? Take it with a grain of salt: The Newsweek system has its fair share of critics. Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews, who came up with the system, offers this defense.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter