2019’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems

Unlike other research that focuses primarily on academic outcomes or school finance, WalletHub’s analysis takes a more comprehensive approach. It accounts for performance, funding, safety, class size and instructor credentials. To determine the top-performing school systems in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 29 key metrics. Read on for our findings, expert insight from a panel of researchers and a full description of our methodology.

Overall Rank (1 = Best)	State	Total Score	‘Quality’ Rank	‘Safety’ Rank
1	Massachusetts	67.85	2	1
2	New Jersey	64.78	1	11
3	Connecticut	62.36	3	12
4	Virginia	61.42	7	2
5	Vermont	60.71	6	4
6	Minnesota	58.98	4	23
7	New Hampshire	58.93	9	6
8	Nebraska	57.17	11	7
9	North Dakota	56.81	5	43
10	Wyoming	56.76	8	29
11	Wisconsin	56.57	10	27
12	Delaware	55.10	22	3
13	Kentucky	54.86	13	18
14	Iowa	54.45	12	33
15	Maine	54.36	20	5
16	Illinois	54.24	14	30
17	Colorado	53.49	17	10
18	Rhode Island	53.48	19	9
19	Maryland	53.04	15	17
20	Kansas	52.65	18	16
21	South Dakota	52.50	16	25
22	Indiana	51.42	21	28
23	Utah	51.20	24	13
24	New York	51.07	23	14
25	Montana	49.33	25	36
26	Florida	49.05	28	20
27	Pennsylvania	48.77	26	35
28	Ohio	47.98	30	19
29	Washington	47.67	31	8
30	Missouri	47.14	27	44
31	North Carolina	46.97	29	39
32	Idaho	46.56	35	22
33	Texas	46.44	33	31
34	Tennessee	45.98	36	26
35	Georgia	45.66	34	38
36	Hawaii	44.74	38	32
37	Michigan	44.15	32	49
38	California	42.43	40	37
39	South Carolina	41.67	39	41
40	Oklahoma	41.03	45	15
41	Arkansas	40.67	37	50
42	Alaska	40.21	46	21
43	Nevada	40.16	42	40
44	Oregon	39.43	41	46
45	District of Columbia	38.94	43	48
46	Alabama	38.47	44	47
47	West Virginia	37.86	48	24
48	Mississippi	37.40	47	42
49	Arizona	34.61	50	34
50	Louisiana	29.93	49	51
51	New Mexico	28.81	51	45

This is meaningless.

Why do I think that?

Because to issue statewide rankings of schools ignores the individual differences of schools and school districts within states.

I’m sure there are many schools of greater quality in last place New Mexico than found in #1 Massachusetts.

I don’t rankings really have any meaning. If I were going into a school and trying measure things....I’d be more concerned about where the 100 kids who graduated in the summer of 2016 are today, and if they are either working, or in some education continuation program. If you got 25-percent unemployed, or just delivering pizzas....then I’d consider that school a negative experience.

Yes, no way NJ is #2; our teachers’ unions dominate state government and successfully avoid any meaningful evaluation of results - grades are inflated and meaningless, especially in minority areas. High taxes chase employers out of NJ; lack of educated workers will ensure they never return.

Here in NJ you’d probably find the best students have left the state after graduation, for job opportunities and economic freedom/to escape our enormous tax burdens (which result in high rents for those who wisely avowing buying homes here - they know they’re only renting them from the teachers’ unions). We have a serious brain drain, and colleges have begun offering scholarships to residents (even white males!) to get them to stay.

NY has sunk so low that they’ve incorporated indentured servitude into a “free tuition” program statewide; the catch is you have to remain in the state one year for each year of free tuition you receive, and the “servitude” comes into play because there is no way in Hell you can stay there without working - even if it is by working three pizza delivery jobs simultaneously.

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