Massachusetts Schools Ranked Tops in Nation

By PATRICK LUCE (Patch Staff)

If you’re sending your kids to public school this year, what kind of education are they getting? That’s the question one study set to answer as back-to-school season gears up.

And the results are music to the ears of Massachusetts parents.

WalletHub recently broke down the best and worst public school systems in the country, using its own formula to come up with a ranking for each state. The site ranks Massachusetts tops in the nation — second in “school system quality,” and first in school safety.

The study used public data available for 13 metrics, including student-teacher ratios, dropout rates and test scores. It also came up with a safety ranking based on bullying incidents, incarceration rates and a school safety survey.

While not in the top 5 in student-to-teacher ratio, SAT scores or lowest dropout rate, Massachusetts ranked highest in the nation in both reading and math scores, accounting for the commonwealth’s high overall ranking.

You can see the nationwide results in the interactive map below:

In addition to Massachusetts, WalletHub’s top five included Colorado, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

The five worst: Louisiana, Arizona, Nevada, District of Columbia and Alaska.

Massachusetts had the safest schools, with Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kentucky and Hawaii rounding out the top five. D.C. was the least safe, followed by Indiana, California, South Dakota and Colorado.

For the full results, check out the full study, which includes a breakdown of each category, here.