New York Schools Rank 25th Best in America

When it comes to quality education, New York State is in the middle of the pack based on one website's national rankings.

New York schools rank No. 25 in the United States, according to a 2016 study by WalletHub.

The study reviewed the 50 states and the District of Columbia for school system quality and safety, using 17 relevant metrics with different weights.

Overall scores were calculated using a weighted average of the metrics. New York scored 51.61, with a school system quality rank of 32 and a school system safety rank of 15.

The No. 1 school system in the study is Massachusetts, with an overall score of 73.65 and first-place ranks for quality and safety. Montana earned one place above New York at No. 24. Louisiana has the worst overall score — 30.33 — putting it in 51st place.

The study also found New York schools have the No. 5 best average ACT score in the country, with Hawaii falling in last place on that metric.

William Coplin, professor of Public Affairs and director of the Public Affairs Program in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, said state and local policymakers “can make decisions for the majority of the students instead of the high achieving students” to improve school systems.

He said schools school be measured based on preparing all students for all types of careers. “As long as that is not the primary measure of quality, quality is irrelevant,” he said.

Best Schools:

• Massachusetts
• New Jersey
• Connecticut
• Vermont
• Wisconsin

Worst Schools:

• Louisiana
• New Mexico
• Alaska
• Arizona
• District of Columbia

Photo via Shutterstock

Reporting by Morgan Searles (Patch Staff)