Texas finished 36th in a new public education study from the website 24/7 Wall St. that examines such measures as high school graduation rates, per-pupil funding and preschool participation.
In the analysis, which is modeled after the Quality Counts study created by the publication Education Week, Texas was found to have a 12th-grade graduation rate of 89.7 percent, education spending amounting to $9,375 per student and a preschool participation rate among 3- and 4-year-olds of 38.7 percent.
Those obtaining bachelor’s degrees in the state represented 30.3 percent of the adult population.
Top-ranking states in the 24/7 Wall St. analysis demonstrated strong performances in reading and math proficiency, as well as graduating students on time. In nine of the top-10 state educational systems, high school graduation rates came in above 84.6 percent, the report said.
Even in states that ranked toward the bottom of the list, there are schools that perform at above-average levels, the analysis said.
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Which States Have the Best Public Schools?
| Rank | State | High School Graduation Rate | Public School Spending per Pupil | % of 3- and 4-year-olds in Preschool | % of Adults With Bachelor’s Degrees |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 88.3% | $16,197 | 58.4% | 44.5% |
| 2 | New Jersey | 90.5% | $18,920 | 62.1% | 40.8% |
| 3 | Connecticut | 87.9% | $19,322 | 61.7% | 39.6% |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 88.9% | $15,683 | 57.6% | 36.8% |
| 5 | Vermont | 89.1% | $18,290 | 61.7% | 38.7% |
| 6 | Wyoming | 86.2% | $16,537 | 45% | 26.9% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 82.7% | $12,647 | 49.6% | 36.7% |
| 8 | Nebraska | 89.1% | $12,579 | 43.3% | 32.4% |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 86.6% | $15,798 | 46.9% | 31.8% |
| 10 | Virginia | 86.9% | $11,886 | 48.1% | 39.3% |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 88.6% | $11,968 | 37.1% | 30% |
| 12 | Illinois | 87% | $15,337 | 54.2% | 35.1% |
| 13 | Maryland | 87.7% | $14,848 | 47.6% | 40.8% |
| 14 | Maine | 86.9% | $13,690 | 53.5% | 31.5% |
| 15 | Iowa | 91% | $11,461 | 45.4% | 29% |
| 16 | New York | 81.8% | $23,091 | 55% | 37.2% |
| 17 | Colorado | 79.1% | $9,809 | 49.9% | 41.7% |
| 18 | Indiana | 83.8% | $10,045 | 37.7% | 27.1% |
| 19 | Ohio | 84.2% | $12,645 | 43.6% | 29.0% |
| 20 | Montana | 85.8% | $11,443 | 41.4% | 31.7% |
| 21 | Delaware | 86.9% | $15,302 | 48.7% | 31.3% |
| 22 | Utah | 86% | $7,179 | 38% | 34.9% |
| 23 | Florida | 82.3% | $9,075 | 49.9% | 30.4% |
| 24 | Washington | 79.4% | $11,989 | 45% | 36.7% |
| 25 | North Carolina | 86.6% | $9,072 | 43.8% | 31.9% |
| 26 | Missouri | 88.3% | $10,589 | 47% | 29.5% |
| 27 | South Dakota | 83.7% | $9,939 | 37.8% | 29.2% |
| 28 | Rhode Island | 84.1% | $15,943 | 33.9% | 34.4% |
| 29 | Kentucky | 89.7% | $10,121 | 42.7% | 24.8% |
| 30 | Kansas | 86.5% | $10,961 | 45.8% | 33.8% |
| 31 | North Dakota | 87.2% | $13,760 | 38.5% | 29.7% |
| 32 | Tennessee | 89.8% | $9,184 | 35.3% | 27.5% |
| 33 | Idaho | 79.7% | $7,486 | 36% | 27.7% |
| 34 | Arkansas | 88.0% | $9,967 | 45.4% | 23.3% |
| 35 | California | 82.7% | $12,143 | 45.6% | 34.2% |
| 36 | Texas | 89.7% | $9,375 | 38.7% | 30.3% |
| 37 | Georgia | 80.6% | $10,205 | 46.1% | 31.9% |
| 38 | Michigan | 80.2% | $11,907 | 43.5% | 29.6% |
| 39 | Oregon | 76.7% | $11,264 | 45.2% | 34% |
| 40 | Mississippi | 83% | $8,771 | 45.1% | 23.2% |
| 41 | South Carolina | 83.6% | $10,590 | 39.1% | 28.3% |
| 42 | Hawaii | 82.7% | $14,322 | 44.2% | 33.5% |
| 43 | Alaska | 78.2% | $17,838 | 44.3% | 30.2% |
| 44 | Oklahoma | 82.6% | $7,940 | 41.4% | 25.6% |
| 45 | Arizona | 78% | $8,003 | 35.1% | 29.7% |
| 46 | Alabama | 89.3% | $9,511 | 40.9% | 25.5% |
| 47 | West Virginia | 89.4% | $11,554 | 34.6% | 21.3% |
| 48 | Nevada | 80.9% | $9,320 | 35.1% | 24.9% |
| 49 | Louisiana | 78.1% | $11,199 | 48.3% | 24.3% |
| 50 | New Mexico | 71.1% | $9,881 | 40.4% | 27.7% |
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
This article was first published by The Center Square.
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