Best & Worst Public School Systems in the U.S.

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Education Week's 'Quality Counts' 13th annual report is just out and there is a new top dog in the country. For the first time ever, Maryland sits atop the rankings. The ranking is based on student performance, graduation rates and statewide accountability and standards, among other factors.

Click through our gallery of the 10 highest scoring states and 10 lowest scoring states and see where your state ranks.

Next: 10th Best

10th Best: Arkansas

Total Score: 79.6 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B-
Chance of Student Success: C-
School Finance: C
K-12 Achievement: D

Next: 8th Best (tie)

8th Best (tie): West Virginia

Total Score: 80.0 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B-
Chance of Student Success: C-
School Finance: B
K-12 Achievement: F

Next: 8th Best (tie)

8th Best (tie): Georgia

Total Score: 80.0 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B-
Chance of Student Success: C
School Finance: C+
K-12 Achievement: D+

Next: 7th Best

7th Best: Pennsylvania

Total Score: 80.3 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B-
Chance of Student Success: B
School Finance: B-
K-12 Achievement: C+

Next: 6th Best

6th Best: Ohio

Total Score: 81.2 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B-
Chance of Student Success: B-
School Finance: B-
K-12 Achievement: C-

Next: 5th Best

5th Best: New Jersey

Total Score: 81.9 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B-
Chance of Student Success: A-
School Finance: B+
K-12 Achievement: B-

Next: 4th Best

4th Best: Virginia

Total Score: 83.2 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B
Chance of Student Success: B
School Finance: C+
K-12 Achievement: C

Next: 3rd Best

3rd Best: New York

Total Score: 84.1 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B
Chance of Student Success: B
School Finance: B+
K-12 Achievement: C-

Next: 2nd Best

2nd Best: Massachusetts

Total Score: 84.6 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B
Chance of Student Success: A
School Finance: B
K-12 Achievement: B

Next: No. 1 Best School System

No. 1 School System: Maryland

Total Score: 84.7 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B
Chance of Student Success: B+
School Finance: B
K-12 Achievement: B

Next: 10th Worst

10th Worst: Missouri

Total Score: 72.4 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: C-
Chance of Student Success: C+
School Finance: C
K-12 Achievement: D

Next: 9th Worst

9th Worst: Arizona

Total Score: 72.2 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: C-
Chance of Student Success: C-
School Finance: D+
K-12 Achievement: D

Next: 8th Worst

8th Worst: Oregon

Total Score: 71.5 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: C-
Chance of Student Success: C
School Finance: C
K-12 Achievement: D

Next: 7th Worst

7th Worst: Montana

Total Score: 71.2 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: C-
Chance of Student Success: C+
School Finance: C
K-12 Achievement: C-

Next: 6th Worst

6th Worst: South Dakota

Total Score: 71.1 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: C-
Chance of Student Success: B-
School Finance: C-
K-12 Achievement: C-

Next: 5th Worst

5th Worst: Nebraska

Total Score: 69.8 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: C-
Chance of Student Success: B
School Finance: C+
K-12 Achievement: D+

Next: 4th Worst

4th Worst: Mississippi

Total Score: 69.4 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: D+
Chance of Student Success: D+
School Finance: D+
K-12 Achievement: F

Next: 3rd Worst

3rd Worst: Idaho

Total Score: 69.1 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: D+
Chance of Student Success: C+
School Finance: D
K-12 Achievement: C-

Next: 2nd Worst

2nd Worst: Nevada

Total Score: 68.8 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: D+
Chance of Student Success: D+
School Finance: D
K-12 Achievement: D-

Next: No. 1 Worst School System

No. 1 Worst School System: DC

Total Score: 68.3 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: D+
Chance of Student Success: C+
School Finance: --
K-12 Achievement: F

Note: The District of Columbia is a single district jurisdiction. As a result, it is not possible to calculate measures of financial equity, which capture the distribution of funding across districts within a state. The District of Columbia does not receive grades for school finance.

Explanation of Data & Rankings

Next: More From WalletPop

More on These School Systems:

Education Week's Annual Report
50 State Report Card
State-by-State Analysis

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