TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida got a high mark of B for teacher evaluation and compensation Wednesday from a Washington, D.C.-based group that likes the state's use of student test scores to assess teachers and its pioneering merit pay program.

The state also received a C in four other areas but an F in preparing special education teachers in the National Council on Teacher Quality's first State Teacher Policy Yearbook.

The report got a cool reception from the Florida Department of Education, which said it includes factual errors, and the Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, which suggested the council has a conservative political agenda.

FEA spokesman Mark Pudlow noted Florida has consistently ranked below the national average in overall teacher salaries, yet that factor was not part of the evaluation and compensation grade.

"These are people that have a particular point of view, and I'm not surprised at the result they came up with," Pudlow said.

Council President Kate Walsh denied it has a conservative bias, saying she's a Democrat and several members of her board served in former Bill Clinton's administration.

She said overall compensation was not evaluated because there are plenty of other reports dealing with that issue.

"We do not disagree with reports that challenge the problem of teacher pay," she said.

The FEA has argued that merit, or performance, pay should not be awarded until Florida's base pay is increased to the national average, but the union earlier this year endorsed a compromise merit plan that gives more flexibility to local school officials.

The teacher quality council's position is that merit pay is a promising practice, but Walsh said it was just one of many factors considered in determining the state's assessment and compensation grade.

"We're not saying that Florida has arrived at a great formula for merit pay," Walsh said. "We're saying good for them for trying."

She said Florida was not alone in getting a failing grade for preparing special education teachers.

"Across the board special education is a travesty," Walsh said. "Florida is no exception."

Department of Education spokeswoman Jennifer Fennell, though, took exception to some of the report's data, saying it was outdated or just wrong. She said she could not comment in detail because department staffers were still evaluating the report.

It gave Florida a C in the areas of meeting federal No Child Left Behind Act teacher quality objectives, teacher licensing, state approval of teacher preparation programs and alternate routes to certification.