News considered only a school's ranking in this category--first, second, etc.--rather than how much it spent relative to other schools.
The news focused on the school's ranking because it's a summarized statistic. 
mnli hypothesis: The news focused on the school's ranking because it's a summarized statistic.  premise: News considered only a school's ranking in this category--first, second, etc.--rather than how much it spent relative to other schools.