With student scores in math and reading having dropped significantly last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems, as well as 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. South Carolina |
| 2. Connecticut | 43. Mississippi |
| 3. New Jersey | 44. Nevada |
| 4. Wisconsin | 45. Alabama |
| 5. Virginia | 46. Louisiana |
| 6. New Hampshire | 47. Alaska |
| 7. Nebraska | 48. West Virginia |
| 8. Maryland | 49. Arizona |
| 9. Florida | 50. Oklahoma |
| 10. North Dakota | 51. New Mexico |
Best vs. Worst
- West Virginia has the lowest dropout rate, 7.90 percent, which is 3.4 times lower than in the District of Columbia, the highest at 27.00 percent.
- Vermont has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio, 10.54, which is 2.1 times lower than in Utah, the highest at 22.39.
- Delaware has the lowest share of high school students who reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, 4.72 percent, which is 2.1 times lower than in Louisiana, the highest at 10.02 percent.
- The District of Columbia has the lowest share of high school students who were bullied online, 7.22 percent, which is three times lower than in New Hampshire, the highest at 21.78 percent.
