eighteen got a d. and the eight states you see coming up here got an f, with grades of 59 or lower. we won't embarrass them by saying their names but as a kind teacher might say, they have a lot of room for improvement. bill: or teachers say go ahead, look it up! that's your home work. why did new jersey come out on top? >> reporter: in part by taking steps to crack down on a rather colorful history of corruption by using tpuf -- tough ethics laws. these efforts came in reaction to the long history of corruption in the state which was vigorously attacked by former u.s. attorney, now governor chris christie, who prosecuted many of the recent cases. the state has had some famous corruption episodes, including a former jersey shore councilman, bragging to an undercover officer that he would never get caught because he could smell a cop a mile away. apparently not. so over ten years or so, 150 state and local officials were either convicted or