With the gaps in test scores between low-poverty and high-poverty elementary schools growing by 15% to 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems, as well as accompanying videos and expert commentary.
In order to determine the best school systems in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 key measures of quality and safety. The data set ranges from pupil-teacher ratio and dropout rate to median standardized-test scores.
| States with the Best School Systems | States with the Worst School Systems |
| 1. Massachusetts | 42. Alabama |
| 2. Connecticut | 43. Mississippi |
| 3. New Jersey | 44. Oregon |
| 4. Virginia | 45. Oklahoma |
| 5. Maryland | 46. South Carolina |
| 6. Delaware | 47. West Virginia |
| 7. New Hampshire | 48. Arizona |
| 8. North Dakota | 49. Louisiana |
| 9. Nebraska | 50. Alaska |
| 10. Wisconsin | 51. New Mexico |
Best vs. Worst
- Alabama has the lowest dropout rate, 8.30 percent, which is 3.7 times lower than in the District of Columbia, the highest at 31.10 percent.
- Vermont has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio, 10.34, which is 2.2 times lower than in Utah, the highest at 22.63.
- Massachusetts has the lowest share of high school students who reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, 4.50 percent, which is 2.8 times lower than in Louisiana, the highest at 12.40 percent.
- The District of Columbia has the lowest share of high school students who were bullied online, 8.90 percent, which is 2.3 times lower than in New Hampshire, the highest at 20.10 percent.
