See where Ohio ranks in new study naming the states with the best school systems

Chad Murphy, Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read

Which state has the best school systems in the country? A new study by WalletHub is providing an answer, naming the states with the best and worst schools.

According to the finance website, WalletHub compared all 50 states plus the District of Columbia across 32 metrics -- including academic performance, funding, safety, class size and instructor credentials -- to determine its ranking.

Where does Ohio fall on that list? Here's what to know.

Which states have the best schools?

The top five states with the best schools, according to WalletHub, are:

  1. Massachusetts

  2. Connecticut

  3. Maryland

  4. New Jersey

  5. Wisconsin

Source: WalletHub

Where does Ohio rank on that list?

The Buckeye State came in at No. 30 on WalletHub's list. The study ranked Ohio No. 28 in spending, No. 30 for quality and No. 33 for safety.

Indiana (No. 13), Kentucky (No. 21) and Pennsylvania (No. 27) finished higher in the rankings than Ohio, but the Buckeye State fared better than neighboring Michigan (No. 36) and West Virginia (No. 46).

Source: WalletHub

How WalletHub determined its school system rankings

In order to create its ranking, WalletHub compared the states across two dimensions, “Quality” and “Safety.” Each of those dimensions were evaluated using 32 metrics, including the presence of public schools in U.S. News & World Report's “Top 700 Best U.S. Schools,” graduation rate, ACT and SAT scores, student-to-teacher ratio, the number of threatened or injured students, number of school shootings and bullying rates, among other factors.

WalletHub then created a weighted average across all metrics to calculate each state's overall score, and used those scores to create its ranking.

“Getting enough funding is essential for a productive school system, but simply having more money doesn’t guarantee success. How funds are applied also plays a big role in how good a school system is, as does the quality of educators, other professionals and the curriculum," Cassandra Happe, WalletHub analyst, said in a statement. "In addition, schools need to focus not just on test scores but also on making sure that students feel safe, comfortable and cared for.”

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Study names states with best schools. Here's where Ohio ranks