This State Has the Best School System in America

After a school year disrupted by COVID-19, parents are more concerned than ever about their children's education. The coronavirus aside, how well public schools fare across America is often dictated by the funding they receive, which is one of the factors WalletHub took into account in its examination of school systems in each state and the District of Columbia. The site looked at nearly three dozen metrics in two main categories for K-12 education: quality (including graduation and dropout rates, test scores, and pupil-teacher ratios), and safety, which looked at everything from bullying and disciplinary rates to school security plans. Massachusetts earned the top spot in both categories, while New Mexico ranked last overall. Read on for the 10 states with the best school systems:

1. Massachusetts (No. 1 in both "quality" and "safety" categories)
2. Connecticut
3. New Jersey
4. Virginia
5. Vermont
6. New Hampshire
7. Minnesota
8. Wisconsin
9. Delaware
10. Maryland

Next, the school systems that aren't getting an A-plus.

42. Arkansas (last in "safety" category)
43. South Carolina
44. Alabama
45. Nevada
46. Mississippi
47. Oklahoma
48. Alaska
49. Arizona
50. Louisiana
51. New Mexico (last in "quality" category)

See how the other states fared here. (Related? The 10 most, least educated states.)